Cyberworld Paranoia
by Writerdragon
Summary: Something has been found in Sharo: two oddly created boxes that are a complex program that creates doors to intangible worlds. What happens when Rockman and the gang gets sucked into it and get caught up in something they want nothing to do with? Will they ever return home . . . alive? RM.EXE, anime-verse.
1. Prologue

**It's about time I start writing this fanfiction. This is my first _Rockman EXE_ fic since I joined this sight about a year and a half ago. About time.**

**I've been planning this fiction for a while now. A few months matter of fact****. As you will obviously notice, some of this will be based after _TRON_****. ****I'm so pumped for **_**TR2N**_**. *bounces up and down***

**Anyways, this will be confusing at first. Hang with me.**

**10/24/10: This is now anime-verse.**

**7/29/11: did more edits.**

* * *

_Cyberworld Paranoia _

Prologue

Silence filled the "night."

Well, it was night, but not here in the Cyberworld. There was no concept of "night" or "day" in the Cyberworld. The world was dark with the exception of the lines of flashing light of blue, red, and white. The ground below would glow when a NetNavi would step on it. Suddenly, the ground glowed as a female NetNavi rushed to a wall, leaning against it as she panted heavily, saliva dribbling from her lip and onto the floor. Her suit was beautifully coloured with pastel blue, orange, and red for her hair that stuck out of her helmet. She had a lithe tail that twitched from side to side. The orange markings on her body glowed from pastel orange, to light orange, then bright orange, yellow-orange, and then back to pastel orange. The flashing of her markings were so fast—one could not keep up with the movement. She pressed her back to the wall behind her, her chest heaving. Her glowing acid-green eyes darted around suspiciously. She reached back, grabbing a thick cable-like device, and moved the tip to the wall—it was a good way to collect information around her. After all, the NetNavi was being chased. She had to remain four steps ahead of him. She pulled her cable back, and rubbed her four-digit hand against her cheek.

"Shit," she groaned.

The NetNavi took in a breath of air, and started to run again. Where was Cindy? Had she been caught? The female program swallowed thickly at the idea. She darted down a series of steps, and coward behind a wall. There before her was the America's World Wide Web City. It was a large city that connected to every other World Wide Web City in the, well, world. It was a global hot-spot. The female program snuck into the outskirts of the city, and dove behind another wall. She could hear the chatter of other NetNavis.

"So, how was work?"

"Oh, God, today was horrible!"

The female NetNavi coward in the shadows, but her radiating orange glow made her stand out. The other NetNavis talking were also glowing (all NetNavis did, of course. It would be bizzare to meet one that didn't. Rather than that; unnatural!). One was white while the other was blue. She could not let them see her. The female program turned off her glowing patterns, and faded into the night, the only thing glowing was her eyes and the bioluminescent lines on the walls. The alleyway was dark—a perfect place. She placed her hand to her helmet.

"Cindy?" she called. "Cindy!"

No response.

The NetNavi paused. "Cindy," she tried again. "Cindy . . .?"

She had to been taken. There was no other way! The female NetNavi growled, her fist slamming into the wall parallel to her, creating a burst of blue light that snaked its way around the wall and soon faded.

"Damn it," the NetNavi cursed.

They had gotten her. Now what should she do? Cindy was in trouble. Who knows what Death would do to her now that they had captured her! The NetNavi could feel her stomach turn violently, and she hissed.

"Have you seen this NetNavi?"

She froze.

She _knew_ that voice.

The female NetNavi bit her lower lip, and listened in.

"Um, no, I haven't seen her," the other NetNavi stated to the voice.

"Well, her name is Rule Shefler EXE, number 98AB67CZ1," the voice stated. "If you see her, report her at once. She is dangerous."

Rule crinkled her nose. She was not _that_ dangerous. She looked down, looking at the serial number _98AB67CZ1_ etched into her inner wrist, it too glowing orange. All NetNavis and humans had serial numbers in America. It was only natural. But then again, it made her feel like an item.

"Geez, what did she do?"

"That is none of your concern. I will be posting her picture all over—on all World Wide Web Cities. Remember: do your Community a favor and turn her in the moment you see her."

The two NetNavis were silent. They knew better than to irritate the Authority's men. Rule listened to the footsteps, and crouched in the darkness, her tail growing limp.

"Well, dat's just great," she snarled to herself.

She could return to the Home of the Free, but then she would endanger her friends. She could not go to the Underground; Cindy could not take her there. She could always go to the Outlands. That was always an option. Then again, Rule did not want to be devoured by powerful viruses. Only the strong and the brave went out to the Outlands—only a handful would return. Rule had always heard horror stories about how a virus would feast upon a NetNavi to make themselves stronger.

"I'm not gunna be any vihus' meal today."

Rule took in a breath, and darted from where she was, and to the next ally. A bunch of little rat-like viruses darted away, their little white glows following them. She only paused when she saw a jack. Rule smiled to herself as she placed the tip of her plug into it, receiving information. She could see her image, her name, and everyone else she knew all over the place with the words "WANTED" under them. Rule pulled her plug away, and snorted. She had to stay in the city. It was the only way to keep her and her friends safe. In a few days she would return to them. Perhaps then try to help Cindy? Just then, the blue lights flashed, highlighting her. Rule cringed under the light, hissing slightly.

"There she is!"

Rule's acid-green eyes popped open in horror as a green-glowing NetNavi pointed at her. The other one by his side was a blue-glowing NetNavi, who was on a motorcycle. Both wore matching Police uniforms, whic looked like something a fascist woul wear. Arm-band and all. Rule inhaled, and ran right at them. She leapt up, firing her newly-formed buster, hitting one of the two NetNavi's in the shoulder. he was flung back, and he landed roughly on his back. He was the one with the motorcycle. He hissed, clutching his shoulder as the orange-glowing NetNavi landed, and climbed onto his motorcycle, and drove off. The green-glowing NetNavi growled, and grabbed his own transportation from an innocent bystander.

"Give me that!" he snapped, pushing the witness from his motorcycle, and climbed aboard it. "Get extra help!" he called to the blue-glowing program as he darted off.

Rule moved as fast as she could through the roads, looking over her shoulder at the enemy NetNavi on his own motorcycle. She hissed, and pressed harder on the peddle, making the machine move faster. The green-glowing NetNavi was not going to allow her to win, and he tried to pick up the speed on the motorcycle. Rule drove around the obstacles that were in her way, leaning forward, hoping that would make her move faster. Her tail trailed behind her, and her pastel red hair flailed around. The other NetNavi mimicked her, biting down on his lower lip. Above them were floating platforms connected to ramps, and one ramp was connected to the ground. Rule turned, driving up the ramp and followed up the ramps to the upper level. The green-clad NetNavi looked up, snarling, and followed up the ramp. Rule released her hand from the handle, turning it into her buster, and moved it back, shooting at him. The other living program dodged them with sharp maneuvers, and fired back at her. Rule ducked her head, one bullet hitting a floating platform. It was common to have floating objects in the Cyberworld—Rule could use them. She drove quickly up a ramp, and shot at a cube. It shook, and it went flying towards the other NetNavi. The green-glowing NetNavi moved out of the way, the object shattering as soon as it hit the ground, soon turning into pixilated particles.

Rule snorted, her buster turning to her normal orange-glowing hand, and placed it back to the handle. World Wide Web City soon started to fade from view, however, its glow still illuminated in the "sky." She was now in the large outskirts of the city. The other NetNavi snarled, his arm turning quickly into a sword, and he moved over to her right side, catching up to her. Rule pressed her upper torso to the motorcycle, eyeing the man that was gaining speed. The male NetNavi lifted up his sword-arm, thrusting it towards her. Rule turned to the left sharply, dodging the sword that was coming her way. She was a few feet away from the male NetNavi before she decided to make a sharp right, coming right at him, slamming her motorcycle into his. He snarled, swiping his sword at her. Rule's foot came up, slamming the heel of her boot into his leg. The green-glowing NetNavi yelped, falling out of his motorcycle. The machine skittered across the floor, and the male NetNavi hit the ground, and rolled a few feet before stopping. Rule laughed darkly, giving the man the one-finger salute.

"S'long, asshole!"

The male NetNavi pushed himself up, narrowing his glowing red eyes at her. The green-glowing NetNavi stood up, rushing over to his motorcycle, righting it, and seated himself quickly upon the machine. He started it up, and started to join the chase again. Rule looked over her shoulder, gasping slightly. She could stop her glowing orange lines, but it would not matter. Everything around her had glowing lines on the walls, her motorcycle had bioluminescent lines on it, and a fading line of glowing material on the ground marked where she was. There was no hiding—only running. She looked upon the ground, noticing glowing cyber-foliage. She made a sharp turn, stopping the machine, her boot pressed to the floor.

It was the Outlands.

She knew what was out there. But she had to do it. Rule took in a breath of stale air, and drove into the forest. The green-glowing NetNavi watched her, stopping at the edge of the forest, his red eyes scoping the area. He inhaled, and mimicked her. The male animated program could not let her go. Rule carefully maneuvered around the plants and roots, her arm transforming into a sword. She glanced around warily, her tail twitching every so often. She heard cackles of the viruses in the background. Rule whipped her head around, her eyes wide, and her mouth pressed tightly together. She heard rustling, and just then, the green-clad NetNavi propelled himself from a ledge, landing near her. She hissed, and drove as fast as she could out of his sight, but he was soon to follow. The howls of the wolf-like viruses echoed in the background. She was risking almost everything now. Rule swerved out of the way of a tree, and they continued on. She made a sharp turn, going the opposite way he was going. Rule quickly passed the green-clad NetNavi, thrusting her sword out, trying to slice him, but he ducked. He went forward for a few feet before stopping to look at Rule as she faded through the cyber-foliage. The male NetNavi narrowed his glowing red eyes, and sharply turned his motorcycle, and followed soon after her. Rule smirked, leaning forward, making herself go faster, and she darted out through the entrance of the forest. She made a sharp right, following the boarder of the large cyber forest. That was when the enemy NetNavi burst through the foliage, and started to gain up on her.

Rule looked behind her, her eyes narrowing into tiny slits. She turned her head forward. She could go back into the forest, but she did not want to—then again, to lose this guy, her best bet was to make sure that he would get eaten by something. She made another turn, going back into the forest. The green-clad NetNavi robotically followed. He let go one of his hands from the handles of the motorcycle, and turned it into his buster. He then started to fire at Rule. The female program made sharp turns to dodge the bullets. Rule took in a breath of the humid cyber-air, and made her hand turn into a buster. She rotated around, making sure that she would not lose her hold on the handles of the motorcycle, and fired at him. The green-glowing NetNavi turned his buster back into his regular hand, and turned away from the bullets. He went behind several trees, going up onto a fallen tree like it was a ramp or something to that degree. The male NetNavi jumped down, nearly neck-to-neck with the female Netnavi. Rule's hand turned into a sword, and she slashed it out to him, narrowly missing his face—notably his eyes.

He smacked the sword away with his own sword, and rammed his motorcycle into hers, trying to knock her off. The sounds of animalistic laughter filled the air. Both NetNavis broke away from each other, and stopped their transportation vehicles. Rule's tail twitched as she listened in to the world around her. Rustling of plants, the sounds of panting and growling filled her ears. The other NetNavi glanced around, his eyes large.

"Damn you!" he screamed. "Now we're going to be dinner!"

Rule turned her head around, and looked at him. "Naw, yah ah," she said, firing her newly-formed buster at him.

The bullet hit his stomach, and he screamed in agony. Rule took that as her time to get as far away from him as she could. The laughter grew as Rule drove away, leaving the other NetNavi to fend for himself. The green-clad NetNavi hissed, his hand at his stomach. He pulled his hand away, and started his motorcycle up again. Rule was far from his view, but he could make out the faint glowing orange details of her body. The female NetNavi moved through the forest, and then she glanced at her sides. That was when she noticed that _they_ were following her. Long-bodied fox-like viruses were stalking her. They had glowing white tiger-stripes on their bodies, and a total of eight legs, all moving in perfect unison. Their white eyes were upon her, and they moistened their mouths—hungry for her flesh. Rule gritted her teeth, and continued to look forward. That was when a bullet darted over her head. She turned her head around, seeing the green-clad NetNavi gain speed on her. Rule then smirked, and she looked at the viruses.

"Yah hungry?" she called to them. "Have at it!"

She fired her newly-formed buster at the other NetNavi. It hit his shoulder, and he lost control of his motorcycle, falling harshly to the ground. The eight-legged viruses soon lost interest in the female NetNavi, and went to the other NetNavi. They were upon him, and Rule continued to drive off. The green-clad NetNavi sliced his sword, aiming for the heads of the viruses, knowing that was the only way to kill them. They cackled like hyenas as they tried to bite his feet and knees. The green-glowing NetNavi sliced his sword, hitting a few in the shoulder as he tried to return to his motorcycle. One grabbed onto his boot, yanking him back. He kicked it away, slicing off its head, and it was dead—its body vanishing into data particles. He got back onto his motorcycle, and started to drive away, the viruses following, biting and scratching.

Rule smirked a little, thinking that she had gotten rid of him. She made a left, going towards the end of the forest. She burst from the cyber-woods, and out into freedom. The female NetNavi glanced behind her, and continued to smirk. Just then, a spotlight was shown on her. She yelped, surprised by the light, and soon started to get out of control. She fell forward, hitting the ground as it illuminated brightly at her touch, and the motorcycle spun out from under her, smashing into a glowing wall, turning into data particles.

Rule hissed, shrinking under the spotlight. Her tail tightly curled around her, and her hand covered her acid-green eyes. Soon a shadow cast over her frame, and she opened her eyes. There stood Giga—the Authority's NetNavi's right-hand. She was lean, her purple eyes glowing as brightly as her markings. The NetNavi's humanoid body was slender; like a snake's body. Her body was elongated with very long arms, a thin neck, and stilts for legs. Her skin was paper sheet-white, and her large purple eyes glared at Rule. Two hanging thin objects came from her helmet and moved as the NetNavi walked. She had a wicked grin on her face as she looked at the orange-glowing NetNavi. Giga placed her foot to her neck, pressing the sole to Rule's neck.

"Hey, Rule, missed me?" Giga asked, tapping her chin with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Wheah's Cindy? Whaddya do ta Cindy?" Rule snapped.

"She's safe in the slammer," Giga answered nonchalantly, but there was a cruel undertone with it. "Where is the Gate? What did you and that little bitch do to it?"

Rule grinned widely. "I dunno," she lied as that grin never left her face.

Giga's foot propelled across Rule's face, leaving a mark on her cheek. "Don't screw with me," the other female growled. "Where is the Gate?"

"Safe wheah yah an' the Authohities can neva get it," Rule growled, her tail twitching. Her markings flashed brightly, and she grinned like a manic version of the Cheshire Cat.

Giga glared at the smaller female NetNavi, upper lip trembling from her anger, and she glanced at her men. She spoke to them in the Secret Language—only those who worked for the Authority knew it. To Rule, it sounded like broken up English and gibberish mixed in with throaty grunts and growls. It was an ugly sounding language. The purple-glowing NetNavi glared back at Rule.

"Rule Shefler EXE, number 98AB67CZ1, you are wanted for fleeing the law, theft of the Gate, and murder of your NetOp," Giga snapped, her eyes wild. "Do you regret what you did?"

"I reghet _nothin'_."

Giga narrowed her eyes at the other NetNavi, her foot smashing into Rule's right cheek. The blue NetNavi whimpered, cringing as her cheek throbbed. Giga then thrust her heel against her neck, forcing her to the ground. Rule twitched, her hands gripping the boot. Giga turned to her men, ordering them in the Secret Language. The Police NetNavis grabbed Rule, binding her before dragging her off back towards the city as they shoved her into the helicopter. Giga glared at Rule, and that was when the green-glowing NetNavi burst from the woods, the viruses stopping in their tracks. The viruses never left the forest; they just enver did. No one was sure why. . . But they weren't questioning it either. They were fine with that knowledge. He approached Giga, panting heavily, his body marred with claw-markings. He sunk to his knees, stooping over to catch his breath.

"You okay, soldier?" she asked, her voice in monotone. Just like any ruler, she cared for those who served her. Sort of. Dead soldiers were useless.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, bowing his head deeply as he clutched his arm.

"Good, I'll make sure you're fixed up," Giga said. "You did a good job, and for that the Authorities will give you a reward."

The green-glowing NetNavi bowed his head still. "Thank you, ma'am," he said.

Giga waved her hand, dismissing him. He bobbed his head, and hobbled off towards the other Police NetNavis, who took him into their gentle care. The purple-glowing NetNavi was silent, her slender fingers drumming on her leg as she hummed to herelf. That was when a screen popped up before her face. There was her master; the President of the United States. She bowed her head, and dropped to her knee, bowing forward; her hand across her chest.

"Mr. President."

"_Giga, did you get the NetNavi?_"

"Yes, Mr. President," Giga answered with a crude smirk as she lifted up her head. "She's in our hands."

"_Oh, good_," the voice stated. "_What about the Gate?_"

"Those little bitches got rid of it," Giga hissed.

"_Make sure you find it_," the voice growled. "_The Gate is very important. To insure our survival and domination, we need that Gate. But I don't need to tell you this. Just get it back_."

Giga nodded, and the screen faded from view. This was going to be a major challenge. She paused, remembering the Projector. If it was safe, she could retrieve the Gate and Cube quickly. Giga grinned.

* * *

**This chapter was rather boring. It's gunna be that way for a while.**

**You'll see Rockman and the others in the next few chapters.**


	2. Gabcom's Latest Invention

**Okay, I'm saying screw it. I still haven't watched any **_**Stream**_**, **_**Beast**_**, or **_**Beast +**_**, so I'm roughing it with all I know. So, I'm warning you; if I fail at something in the fanfiction, just tell me. Whatever; enjoy. This is now anime-verse, and a year and a half after **_**Beast +**_**.**

**This chapter's a little long and boring.**

* * *

Gabcom's Latest Invention

I

The cyber-snow was thrashing against the military-clad NetNavi as they trudged onward; they were used to such weather. After all, this was their home, and this was perfectly normal conditions. Searchman kept his head low as he searched the horizon. There had been readings of an unidentifiable object lurking in this area. It had high levels of frequency, and the military was called to figure out what was wrong and what it was. A few more soldier NetNavis followed Searchman, hands covering their faces as the cyber-snow pelted them like cold rocks.

"Sir!" one NetNavi called.

Searchman turned his head, his orange hair swaying wildly against his face. "Yes?" he answered over the loud roar of the cyber-wind.

"The levels are off the charts here!" the NetNavi informed his leader as he looked at the device in his hands. The arrow inside of the device was swaying from side to side very quickly, and it did not want to stop almost. Searchman blinked, bending forward, covering his face from the icy snow that was attacking him.

"Where to, soldier?" he hollered.

The NetNavi looked at the object in his hands, and then pointed north. "North, sir!" he answered, pointing ahead.

The main military-like NetNavi nodded. He motioned for his troops to follow. "C'mon, men," Searchman called. "Let's find this thing out, then you can go home! Vodka on the house if so!" He turned, and started to trudge through the thick, knee-high cyber-snow that was piling up around them. The soldiers, now enticed with the promise of raw spirits, they followed eagerly. Searchman turned around, nodded, and continued.

The other NetNavis followed, ducking behind their hands for safety as they followed their leader. The group walked a few feet, and that was when the automatic device in one of the NetNavi's hand started to flash and beep loudly.

"Sir! It's close!"

The NetNavi waved the device around, and the beeping continued. Searchman approached his soldier, and looked at the object. The military NetNavi rotated towards the rest of his men, and thrust out his arm. "Start searching!" he commanded.

They nodded, and bent down, shuffling around in the snow. Searchman did the same. He moved his feet slowly through the cyber-snow, scoping around for anything unusual. He used the barrel of his gun, and probed at the ground. He continued like that, snorting in his slight frustration. Just then, the tip of his gun hit something hard. He blinked, and tapped at what was there. The cyber-snow was oddly-shaped—as if there was something underneath it. Searchman narrowed his eyes and that was when he noticed that whatever was under the snow was glowing too. There were faint lights of red under the white snow. The orange-haired NetNavi approached the mound, and crouched down, moving the snow aside. That was when an object greeted him. It was remotely alien, yet familiar. It was a large box—about the size of a computer monitor and its tower. The box had glowing red lines that marked up the object. The other soldiers surrounded the device, looking at it with interest and confusion.

"What _is_ that?" asked one NetNavi.

"It's a box, dumbass," snapped another NetNavi.

"No shit."

"Alright, _alright_," Searchman chastised.

The two soldiers grew deathly silent. That was when a little window appeared next to Searchman. It was Laika's image. His face was stoic, like it always was. His icy blue eyes were upon his NetNavi, and then with minimal interest, he looked at the glowing cube. "Searchman, report," he ordered.

"Laika-_san_," Searchman said robotically. "This is it."

"A box?"

"Yes, sir. I've never seen anything like this before," the military NetNavi said. "It may just be a program—a locked one of sorts." He tapped his fist against the cube. He listened to the faint sound of an echo from inside.

Laika blinked, and then sternly frowned. "Well, let's collect it and bring it in," he ordered, his window fading from view.

Searchman, with his free arm, grabbed the box—or at least tried. It was a lot heavier than he expected (it sounded so hollow). He grunted, and looked at the cube. It looked so light . . . Another NetNavi approached his side, and both lifted up the large, ominously glowing red box. Then all of them plugged out of the snow-ridden Cyberworld, and appeared at Sharo's main computer. Laika's image appeared again, and he looked at the ridiculously large box.

"Okay, a few soldiers are going to analyze it," he stated blandly.

In the real world, three uniformed men were typing at the computers' keyboards, and a few other military men were looking over their shoulders. From Searchman and his soldier's hands, the box started to levitate. And just then, much like a Rubik's Cube, the box started to shift and move—it seemed to move in harmony with the typing on the keyboard. The NetNavis and humans alike were watching the spectacle. The red glow intensified, and then it stopped moving all together, and hung in space.

Searchman slowly approached it, and reached out, touching the box with his hand. The box jerked, and the NetNavi quickly stepped back. A hologram was then projected from the box, and it read:

_CYBERWORLD GATE_

_ERROR: CANNOT FIND OTHER GATE. SINGAL LOST IN THE REAL WORLD._

Laika blinked, looking intently at the box in the Cyberworld. "There's another one of these things?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else. He turned to the other soldiers behind him. "Go search the town and the outskirts," he ordered. "If there is another one here, then we need to find it."

"Yes, sir," they said in unison.

They saluted Laika, and only after he returned it, the two men left the room. Searchman, meanwhile, continued to eye the large floating box.

"Where is this other . . . gate?" he asked to himself.

Suddenly, the box jerked again, and then this time, it spoke: "_SEARCHING FOR OTHER GATE_." It spun around violently, and then it suddenly stopped. "_ERROR: CANNOT FIND OTHER GATE. SINGAL LOST IN REAL WORLD_."

Searchman looked up to his operator, unsure of what to do. Laika rubbed at his chin in thought.

"I think we need Hikari-_hakase_."

* * *

The night was clear—the moon was full, and it hung lazily in the heavens. The stars were brightly shinning like little dots in a dark, rich blue blanket. The Science Labs were dark, except for a single light that was on. It came from one of the upper rooms—Yuuichiro's room. His eyes were glued to the screen he was staring at, and his fingers dancing across the keyboard. He glanced at the clock to his right, and looked at the digits on the front. It was two in the morning. Yuuichiro sunk back into his chair, and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, his body aching for the sleep he needed so badly. He shifted slightly in his chair, and smiled at the photo of his family on his desk. He reached for it, and touched the photograph lovingly. Just then, his computer beeped. He blinked, and looked at it. The scientist moved his hand, and opened the on-coming video mail. Laika's face popped up.

"Laika-_san_?" Yuuichiro said with evident surprise in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"Hello, Hikari-_hakase_," the Sharo man said in a stern tone. "I'm sorry to disturb you. I need to talk to you. It's important."

Yuuichiro blinked, and leaned forward, looking at the army man-boy. "What is wrong?" he inquired. "What is it?"

Laika swallowed, and shifted, part of him vanishing from the tiny closure of the shown box-shaped screen. "Well, we've received an odd signal in the Cyberworld here in Sharo," he said with a smooth voice. "I sent Searchman and his squad into the Cyberworld, and they found a program."

"A program?"

"Yes, a cube-shaped program," Laika informed Yuuichiro. "It's an odd program, and it says there's another one in the real world."

"There are two of them?"

"_Hai_, Hikari-_hakase_," he answered swiftly. "I have sent my men to find the other program. The first one was here in the Cyberworld. I don't know what to do . . ."

Yuuichiro rubbed at his chin, and thought for a moment. "Have you been able to open the program?" he then asked.

"No, Searchman is trying to open it as we speak. Nothing's happening."

Yuuichiro nodded his head, and looked at the Sharo military personal. "Well, how about you send it to me via e-mail," he suggested.

"No good," Laika muttered. "The program is very big. I think I need to come to Japan to give it to you."

"Okay, that's fine," Yuuichiro said, giving a curt nod of his head and he rubbed at one of his eyes. "Have you been able to find the second program?"

"No, we are still searching."

"Okay, please call me when you find the second one, Laika-_san_," Yuuichiro said.

"Will do, Hikari-_hakase_."

And with that, the little window vanished. Yuuichiro sighed, and sunk back into his chair. Something else he had to deal with. The man inhaled through his nose, relaxed, and exhaled through his mouth. He turned back to his photograph that rested on the desk, and smiled.

* * *

"Netto-_kun_!"

Nothing.

"Netto-_kun_!"

Rockman sighed. He saw his NetOp lay awkwardly on his bed—in fact; he was nearly falling off it. Netto's upper half was laying at an angle—half-laying on his bed—and his lower half tangled in the mess of sheets. The boy twitched in his sleep, and muttered something along the lines of "curry was good." The NetNavi shook his head, letting out a deep sigh as he rubbed at his cheek.

"What am I going to do with him?" he asked himself.

Netto could sleep through a bombing. Then again, a bullhorn might just wake him up. The blue NetNavi twitched, seeped in his thoughts. He had to get up—school was going to start in thirty minutes.

"Netto-_kun_!" he called.

Netto twitched, and rolled off his bed with a loud _thump_. Rockman cringed, closing his eyes tightly. The loud rumbling of snores indicated to the NetNavi that his operator was _still_ asleep. The NetNavi shook his head, and glanced around. Then an idea came to mind, and he smiled. He pulled up a music file, and turned it up to the maximum volume, however, it was still off. Rockman covered one of his ears with one hand as he reached out with the other hand to turn on the music, as to when he placed the other hand to his ear. The music blared loudly, and the human practically jumped out of his skin, hitting his head slammed into the bedpost. That was when Netto sat up, rubbing at his head, a large bump forming.

"Ow, Rockman, what was that for?"

Rockman turned off the music, looking down at his NetOp with a large smile. "Well, that got you up," he said.

Netto struggled to stand, leaning against the desk. "That really hurt, Rockman," he grumbled, rubbing at the large bump that was growing on his head. He pulled back his hand, checking to see if he was bleeding.

"Well, I had to get you up," Rockman stated, shrugging as he did so. "You have to get to school."

"_Nani_?"

Rockman pointed at the clock, and Netto looked at to where he was pointing. He gasped in surprise, and stumbled back in horror upon realizing just how late he was. "School! School!" he screamed frantically. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"I tried to," Rockman muttered, shaking his head again. "You wouldn't wake up." His hologram self formed, placing his hands to his hips. "Perhaps you should go to bed a little earlier," he suggested, wagging his finger. "That way you can get up earlier."

Netto stumbled to the floor, working himself out of his pajamas, and throwing them to the side. "Ugh, I'm going to get chewed out!" he said, scrambling to find his clothing, and dress himself.

"And don't forget: you have a test today."

"_Nani_? On what?"

"History! I told you this!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did!"

"No!"

"_Hai_!"

"No!"

"Just get dressed!"

Netto banged his head against the wall, and hissed, curling forward, and holding his throbbing skull. After a momentary relapse, he quickly stood up, and smoothed out the front of his favorite orange vest. "I am! I am!" he called to his NetNavi.

As he finished with the rest of his clothes, and quickly put on his shoes, and reached for his PET. It has been a year and a half since Beyondard, Trill, Slur, and everything else had happened. Life returned to a normal state, and Netto and the others were now in high school. It was odd not having Mariko as his teacher, but he worked with it. He would still normally see her at the store or on the street. Sometimes, there would be the occasional rogue NetNavi or someone that would do something to threaten society, he and Enzan would take care of it. It has been a while since he had seen Charlie, Dingo, Laika, and the others, but he would send e-mails to them every once in a while to check up on them. Netto stumbled down the stairs, and made a sharp turn into the kitchen, seeing his mother at the sink.

"Netto!" she cried. "There you are!"

He reached for a rice ball, and placed it into his mouth. "Hiya, Mama, bye, Mama," he said around his filled mouth.

"B-bye!" she called, watching her son rush out the front door.

Netto closed the door, and she shook her head. Just then she gasped, remembering her son's lunch that was left inside the refrigerator. She quickly opened the door, and grabbed it, hurrying to the front door.

"Netto-_kun_! You forgot your lunch!"

When she noticed that her son was long gone, she looked at the bagged lunch, and let out a sigh. "I guess I need to drop it off at the office, _again_."

The boy, meanwhile, munched on his rice ball; trying to swallow the large chunks in his mouth. Rockman's hologram popped up next to his ear, and shook his head at his NetOp.

"I'd think you'd learn how to wake up on time, Netto-_kun_," he muttered, his arms crossed over his chest.

Netto growled around a full mouth, sending glares at his NetNavi. Rockman snickered, looking at his human. "What? _Nani_? I can't understand what you're saying?" he said, placing his blue gloved hand to his ear.

"Shuddup," Netto hissed, thickly swallowing the food in his mouth.

Rockman let out another snicker, and the brown-haired boy roller-bladed down the street, narrowly missing several people (and a stray cat). Netto skated down the streets, jumping over the long stone stairs that came in his way. He then entered the school, noticing it that it was half-empty—just some stray students trying to get to their classes without being noticed by their teachers. The school was large and spacious, just like his previous school almost. Flowers were placed around the class halls giving off many hues of colour; brightening up the place just a smidge. Just then, the final bell rang, and Netto let out a scream of horror.

"No!"

"Late," Rockman sighed.

The spiky-haired boy rushed towards the direction of his classroom, and threw open the door, and went down the hall. He took off his rollerblades, and strapped them to his backpack. He went down the empty hall, listening to the sounds of his feet against the floor. He crept across the floor, and to the door of his classroom. His teacher's back was turned away from the door when he looked through the small rectangle-shaped window that was inserted in the door. Netto slowly and silently opened the door—his teacher never moving, and as he tried to get to his seat—

"You're late, Hikari."

Netto cringed, and then sighed, turning to look at his teacher. He was a lean man with short brown hair and grey-coloured eyes. Meiru, a few desks away from him, sitting next to Yaito, sighed. Yaito snickered, looking at the spike-haired boy. She had returned from Kingland, and now was stationed here in Densan, for the time being. Dekao (he had returned as well) and Tohru were in another classroom in the next hall.

"_Gomen nasai_," Netto whispered, going towards his seat, which was to the right of Meiru.

The teacher shook his head, and marked a late slip, walked over to Netto, and handed the boy the slip. Netto stole a pen from Meiru's desk—and she let out a sound of disapproval—and Netto marked the slip. The teacher then took the slip, and went back to the front of the class.

"Thanks," Netto said, giving his friend the pencil he had borrowed.

Rockman's hologram sighed, and shook his head. Roll's hologram was at his side, and she chuckled. "He'll never change, will he?" she inquired.

"Nope," Rockman agreed.

"_Ne_," Netto hissed, leaning forward. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not here."

Glyde's hologram, who was standing on his NetOp's shoulder, smiled, his arms crossed over his round chest. The teacher spoke, writing what he was saying in short, sweet notes. Netto placed his backpack on his desk, and stared to take out his supplies: his binder, a pen, a pencil, and his workbook. He then rested his bag on the floor, and leaned on his propped arm. The class seemed to drag on. After an hour of the teacher taking, and Netto moving to the next class . . . Time just dragged. Now the boy was in history. All that could be heard in the room was the sounds of pencils against paper, and Netto would occasionally glance outside the window in thought, and then back at his test, and then outside of the window. In one of his many glances out of the window, he spotted a plane. He blinked, focusing in on it. It was a military plane. He looked even closer, and noticed that the symbol of Sharo was imprinted on the side.

"Sharo?" Netto whispered.

Why was Sharo here? There were several planes flying over the school, their engines roaring loudly. Netto watched them fade into the direction of where the Science Labs were at. The brunette blinked, and briefly wondered as to what they were doing here? Was Laika and Searchman with the planes? Netto sighed, and turned back to the boring teacher. But he then lost interest in what the teacher was teaching to the class, and leaned in close to his NetNavi's hologram.

"Did you see that?" Netto whispered.

Rockman looked over to his NetOp. "What?" he inquired, a puzzled look on his face.

"There were some Sharo fighter jets."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Netto said. "There were several of them."

Rockman shifted, and looked at his young human owner. "Where do you think they were going?" he asked in a low whisper.

"I think that they were going to the Science Labs."

"You mean Papa?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Hikari Netto!"

Netto shivered, and looked up, his teacher glaring at the boy. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, and his foot tapping against the floor. "Get back to you test, unless you want to lose it," he proposed.

Netto groaned, resting his chin against the table he was sitting at. "Damn it," he hissed under his breath.

* * *

"Hikari-_hakase_? Laika-_san's_ here."

Yuuichiro looked up from his papers, his spectacles slipping down the bridge of his thin nose. "Oh, good," he said, pushing his glasses back up to their regular place. "They came here quick." He yawned deeply, and smoothed back his hair, trying to look decent.

That was when Laika entered the room, smiling, and saluting the man. "Hello, doctor," he said briskly.

"_Konnichiwa_," Yuuichiro said around an on-coming yawn.

"Doctor, you look tired," Laika said, pulling out his PET, placing it on the good doctor's desk. Searchman's hologram appeared next to his NetOp's hand.

"Just a tad," the older man said. "I just need more coffee. I've been surviving on lots and lots of coffee."

Laika gave a gentle nod of his head, and a few Sharo men were pushing in a giant cube on a movable platform. Yuuichiro blinked, his eyes widening in surprise. "This is it?" he inquired, moving over to the large metal cube.

"Yes," Laika said flatly.

"Quite impressive," the doctor said, extremely impressed with the metal cube.

The soldiers who were pushing the device were panting, and rubbing at their sore muscles. Yuuichiro was circling the cube as if he was a shark and it was prey. Fascination and interest was spread across the doctor's face.

"Amazing!" he cried. He turned to Laika. "You said there was another one? Where is it?"

Laika held up a compact disk that he retrieved from his pocket. "This is it," he said. "Can I insert it into the computer?"

Yuuichiro nodded, waving his hand towards the Sharo man. "Go ahead," he said. "I want to see it."

Laika nodded, and inserted it into the computer. The older male looked at the physical cube, tapping at the hard metal. The cube was large—about the size of a queen-sized bed. Laika looked at the computer, and clicked on the file.

"Doctor, here it is."

Yuuichiro looked up from what was before him, and approached Laika. The military boy took his PET, and plugged his NetNavi into the computer. "This is it," Laika stated, pointing at the screen.

Searchman stood beside the digital cube, tapping at it. Yuuichiro looked at it. "Wow," he breathed. "I'm going to call Meijin. He's going to love this."

Laika gave a nod of his head. "Okay," he breathed.

Yuuichiro was silent for a moment, and he turned around to look at the larger, real-world cube. He approached it, and his brilliant mind started to analyze it. "This looks like a three by three Rubik's Cube," he said.

Laika blinked, and approached the doctor's right side. "I thought that it looked like a Rubik's Cube as well," he said, folding his arms over his chest. "Will it work the same way?"

"Perhaps."

The cube stood there, the human's faces showing in its metal skin. To Yuuichiro, it was a complex puzzle. But once he solved it, what would be the reward?

* * *

"Gabcom created another big-ticket item?"

It was now lunch. The lunch building was filled with many children and their NetNavis, their voices filling the room all the way up to the ceiling. Netto and his friends were at a table near the large glass windows, munching away at their lunch.

Yaito smiled proudly, leaning against her chair. "That's right," she said. "Of course _I_ came up with it. Daddy simply loved the idea, and now everyone loves it."

Netto dug around in his backpack, searching for his lunch. "Yeah, what is it, tell us already," he said. "Damn it, where's my lunch."

"At home, I presume," Rockman stated.

"Damn it!"

Meiru chuckled, eating her lunch. Netto looked at the food with longing, and the red head sighed, giving him some of the food. Netto smiled, and nibbled at it. That was when a bag was dropped in front of the spiked-haired boy. It had his name written on it, and the teacher walked away. This was the lunch he had forgotten. His mother was amazing.

"Thank you, _sensei_!" Netto called, waving at the teacher, who merely nodded his head as he walked along.

Meiru rolled her eyes, but then turned to look at Yaito. "So, what is it?" she asked, taking a bite from her food.

Roll nodded, standing on the table, her little hologram standing next to her friends. "Yeah, it sounds interesting," she said. "C'mon, Glyde, tell us."

Glyde sheepishly smiled, and placed his hands to his hips. "Well, it's called the NetNavi Baby Maker," he said.

"Baby Maker?" Iceman inquired.

"_Hai_," Glyde answered. "With this new technology, NetNavis can have children."

Roll looked at her friend. "But, Glyde, NetNavis can have children already," she informed. Some scientits in a distant country had created a way to creat children NetNaivs. It was a big hit.

Yaito nodded, taking a drink of her strawberry milk. "Yeah, but you have to create a NetNavi child externally, and keep going to get upgrades to make them 'age'," she said. "But with this, the data of any two NetNavis can be placed into one of them so they will become 'pregnant.' It takes about three months for the child to mature inside the NetNavi, and the child is 'born.' Great, right?"

Roll let out a little squeal, and held Rockman's arm. "That's amazing!" she called. "So any NetNavi can bear a child, right?"

Gutsman looked at Roll, a little confused. "But men can't have babies, de gustu," he said.

Iceman shook his head. "That's with living organism reproduction, Gutsman," he said. "NetNavis have no gender, really. So anyone of us can go with a 'female' or a 'male' and have a child."

Gutsman nodded. "Okay, de gustu," he said. "Gutsman understand."

The affectionate pink NetNavi clung to Rockman's arm, still looking up at Yaito. Meiru combed back her hair with her hand, but her face was intrigued with what she heard. "So, tell us, Yaito-_chan_, how does the pregnancy work?" she asked, leaning against her hands with awe.

Yaito smirked, holding the cold bottle that contained her strawberry milk against her palms. "Well, just like any other living organism pregnancy," she said. "The baby grows inside of the NetNavi, and you can feel kicks and whatnot—just like any other pregnancy."

Meiru beamed. "That's amazing! I bet a lot of NetNavi couples would love this!" she cried happily, her face looking slightly dreamy.

Netto nodded just a bit, chewing on his sliced fish. "Yeah, I guess," he muttered, slurping it up.

Meiru glared at her friend, and slapped him on the shoulder. Netto winced, and glared at her. Dekao snorted, holding back his laughter. "So, both of the data from both NetNavis are placed into one? And the Navi can be either male or female?" he then asked.

"Yes, since Navis are hermaphrodites technically speaking," Yaito said, finishing off the rest of her drink. "So any 'male' or 'female' can bear the child. And when the time comes, the baby is removed from the bearer Navi, and the child can grow. But since NetNavis age differently, Daddy speculates that it may take five years for a Navi to grow from 'child' to 'adult.'"

Tohru seemed interested, and he leaned against the chair. "Sounds interesting," he said honestly. "So when does it come into stores?"

"In a month."

Roll looked over to Glyde, smirking slyly. "So, are you going to have a child anytime soon?" she asked with a chuckle.

Glyde smiled, and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Oh, Roll-_chan_, I don't think so," he said. "I don't think I'd be a good father. This is just a product."

"Oh, don't be that way," Roll said, playfully pushing on his arm. "You would be a great father!"

Yaito snickered, both at her Navi's face and at Roll's comments, and took another piece of food from her plate. It was steak this time. "Yeah, a product that will make me richer," she noted with a smug smirk.

Netto rolled his eyes, and continued to eat his lunch. He could never understand why women (human and NetNavi alike) loved the idea of children or marriage. He shook his head, and then turned to look at the others. "Oh, guess what I saw during class," he said, holding up his finger. "I looked out of the window, and I saw several Sharo fighter jets."

Tohru looked over at the spiky-haired boy. "Really?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, they looked like they were heading towards the Science Labs," Netto noted. "I wonder what happened . . ."

Meiru swallowed, and reached for her drink, which was by her NetNavi's hologram. "Maybe it has to deal with your father," she suggested.

"That's what I thought," he said. "I mean, the _Sharo military_ was here. It _has_ to be big."

Netto nodded, looking at his lunch. "Yeah," he whispered. "I've been thinkin' about e-mailing Papa to ask him what's up, but I mean, he's just always so busy, and busy, and _busy_ . . ."

"Well, he's one of the best scientists in the world," Yaito noted, munching on her steak. "Of course he's busy."

Netto sunk back into his chair, and looked outside, thinking about his father. The clouds drifted by lazily in the blue sky. They looked like cotton candy just hanging in the blue sheet that was hung in the heavens. His mind reeled with questions, and they were aching for answers.

* * *

**I dunno. Many people touched on the idea that NetNavis could have children; here's my thought on it. LAME.**

**Do NetNavis eat/drink? Well, in the manga, it shows Rockman and the others having tea, and Bubbleman was eating chips. So . . . o.o**

**Japanese 101:**

_**Kun**_**—a familiar thing used only for a male**

_**San**_**—Mr/Mrs**

_**Chan**_**—a familiar thing used for younger females**

_**Nani**_**—what**

_**Gomen nasai**_**—I'm sorry**

_**Ne**_**—hey **

_**Konnichiwa**_**—hello **

_**Sensei**_**—teacher **


	3. Cube

Cube

II

The Cube was _mocking_ him.

The Cube was _laughing_ at him.

Yuuichiro was staring intently at the metal abomination. Laika stood behind several scientists, watching them analyze the Cube that was inside of the computers. Several NetNavis, along with Searchman, were trying to figure out its confusing code. In the real world, Yuuichiro was looking at the three-dimensional creation that was before him. His hands touched the cold metal, and felt it.

"Anything, Searchman?" Laika inquired to his NetNavi.

The soldier-looking NetNavi shook his head, his hand hovered near the Cube. "Nothing, sir," he answered.

He lightly touched it, and the Cube turned around violently, then saying: "_SEARCHING FOR OTHER GATE_."It spun around, the other NetNavis watching in slight horror and fear, and then the large creation stopped. "_ERROR: CANNOT FIND OTHER GATE. SINGAL LOST IN REAL WORLD_."

Laika stood there, his mind drenched in thought. "But the odd thing is . . . we found the other one," he said, thumbing over his shoulder.

Yuuichiro looked up from his crouching state, and to where Laika was located. "Perhaps, this one is not activated," he suggested.

"That seems just about right," Laika pondered. "Where is Meijin-_san_?"

"He's coming," Yuuichiro said with a small, tired smile. "I got one of the NetNavis to call him over."

Laika nodded, rubbing at his chin. The good doctor approached his desk, reaching for his mug of coffee, taking a large gulp of it. And then, like a brick wall, something hit him. "Wait," he called, placing his cup back on the desk. "The one in the Cyberworld . . ." Yuuichiro approached the computer, peering at the floating program inside.

"What about it, doctor?" Laika inquired.

"It said that its signal is lost in the real world, correct? That's our world—here," Yuuichiro said, tapping on the floor with his foot to emphasize on his point.

"Yes, and . . .?"

Laika watched as the brown-haired doctor approached the Cube in the human's realm. "That Cube is talking about this Cube," he said, crouching down to inspect the metal creation. "Perhaps it can be connected to the Cyberworld."

"Wirelessly?" Laika suggested. "That makes sense, doctor. The one in the Cyberworld repeated that same line over and over again."

"It just needs to be connected," Yuuichiro said, his hands roaming the Cube. "That's it in a nutshell. It just needs to be connected. Laika, help me find an opening or something."

Laika blinked, and did as the scientist had asked him to do. His hands felt the hard surface of the Cube, trying to find something that could open up to reveal a hidden cord or something. Yuuichiro rubbed at his eyes, trying his best to stay awake, but a ghost of a yawn passed by his lips. Searchman's hologram then appeared on Laika's shoulder.

"The cube has done nothing," he informed his human owner. He then grew silent. "I don't know if it is just me, sir, but this thing has an odd vibe."

Laika looked at his NetNavi's hologram for a brief minute, and then he went back to the daunting task to find something peculiar on the Cube. "What do you mean, Searchman?" he inquired to his NetNavi.

Searchman did not move, only his eyes did so. "I'm not sure, Laika-_san_," he muttered. "It could be just me."

"Maybe," Laika said, crouching down, his hand underneath the device now. "Go back to the other cube. Keep trying to break its code."

"Yes, sir."

And with that, Searchman's hologram vanished.

"Hikari-_hakase_ is this way, Meijin-_san_."

"Please, no formalities."

Yuuichiro glanced up from where he was most preoccupied with, and looked towards the hallway as to where the voices were coming from. He yawned again, and rubbed at his tender eyes. He stood up, just then, and smoothed out his horribly wrinkled clothing. In truth, the brilliant man looked like a world-class slob. There was no doubt. But he was a man of intelligence—he could get away with looking like that from time to time. But Yuuichiro still had his pride, and he tried his best to look at least decent for his friend. That was when Meijin appeared in the room.

"Yuuichiro!" he called, his arms out spread. "How are you? You look beat."

Meijin held out his hand, and Yuuichiro took it, both shaking hands. "I am," the brilliant scientist answered with a weary smile. "So far, I'm surviving on coffee and toast."

Meijin laughed, and clasped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, when this is—what the hell is that?" he said, stopping midsentence, and pointing at the Cube that rested on a slight lift.

"This is what I called you in for," Yuuichiro answered, walking over to the metal monster. "This is what Laika and the Sharo military found. They also found a Cyberworld version of it, which is inside of that computer." He pointed to his right to where several brilliant men were slaving over, along with NetNavis inside.

Meijin looked at the Cube, his face stiff, and his eyes wide. "Incredible," he breathed.

Yuuichiro laughed, looking at his bewildered friend. "I know, it's almost alien," he said. "Oh, and there's Laika."

The other older man peered around the large creation, and looked at Laika, who was on the cold, hard floor, feeling around on the cube. The Sharo male poked his head out, and nodded his head at the other man. "Hello," he greeted briskly, and went back to his task.

"Hello, Laika," Meijin said.

Yuuichiro groaned, and sunk into his seat, rubbing at his temples. Meijin approached his side, and leaned nonchalantly against the desk, his hands in his pockets. "What is he doing, exactly?" he questioned.

"Something that we may have missed," Yuuichiro answered blandly. He looked up, his hand against his face, and his eyes poked out through parted fingers. "Commissioner Kifune isn't here?"

"Naw, I asked him to come, but he was busy with something else," Meijin answered, pushing up his sunglasses to cover his eyes.

Laika, meanwhile, was still searching for anything out of the ordinary on the Cube. He was at the right bottom corner of the large square, searching the metal. Just then, he felt something. The Sharo male froze, but then ran his hand over the slight indent he felt. At first, he thought it was just that—an indent, but as he started to observe it, it seemed as if it was a lid or something like that. His fingertips felt around the outline of the lid, and popped it open. It was a little compartment, and there was a thin cord—a USB port it seemed.

"Doctor," Laika called. "I found something."

Yuuichiro glanced up, staring at Laika. "What is that?" he called.

"A USB cable," Laika answered, rubbing it between his finger and thumb.

The brown-haired doctor stood up, and approached the Sharo male. "Perfect," he said, crouching down to look at the cable. "We'll try it out."

Laika looked at the doctor, who looked like he was dying. His body obviously needed sleep. "Doctor, you need sleep," he stated.

Yuuichiro looked at the military man. "That can wait," he said.

Laika shook his head, forcing the doctor to stand. "No, you need sleep, right, Meijin-_san_?" he stated.

Meijin nodded, offering his hand to his friend. "_Hai_, you need sleep, just for a few hours, okay?" he said.

Yuuichiro looked at his friend, and numbly nodded his head. "Okay, a few hours," the doctor agreed, and he followed his friend out of the large space.

Laika watched the doctor leave, and placed the USB cable back into the slot, and closed the small lid. The other doctors turned, unsure of what to do. "What now?" one called to Laika.

He rotated around, looking at the befuddled scientists. "Break," the military man simply said. "Break."

* * *

Hours seemed like days to Netto, and when school ended, he nearly screamed in joy. The group soon found themselves in Yaito's favorite ice cream parlor. The young blonde had promised that she would take them out for ice cream while they would do their homework. Yaito leaned across the seat she was in, looking at Netto's messy homework paper.

"Yeah, just like that," Yaito said, nibbling on a spoonful of her strawberry yogurt ice cream.

Netto looked at the paper that was laying flatly under his hands, his pencil tapping against the metal table. The group of friends had spent an hour so far at the parlor—they were just at the back. A little haven to themselves. On the tables next to them were the empty glasses that used to be filled with different ice cream flavors. Dekao was playing with his spoon, glancing at Netto's homework and his. He grunted, and erased what he had on his lined paper.

"Damn it," he muttered, writing down what he had seen on Netto's paper.

Yaito held the large fishbowl of ice cream closer, and she took another spoonful. The brown-haired boy then started to write out the full formula, and looked at his work.

"Like this?" Netto inquired.

Yaito leaned across, and nodded, swallowing the melted ice cream in her mouth. "Yep, that's right," she said. She then looked over at Meiru's paper. "You too, Meiru."

The redhead smiled, and circled the answer. Tohru looked at his answer, and compared it to his. "Alright," he said, more to himself than anyone else, a small smile of joy on his lips.

Meanwhile, their NetNavis were talking amongst themselves. Roll looked at Rockman's stiff expression. "Are you okay?" she asked, yanking at his arm only so slightly.

The blue-clad NetNavi looked at the pink-clad one, and put a small grin on his face. "Oh, nothing, I was just thinking," he stated.

"Well, you have been a little silent," Glyde noted. "What's on your mind?"

Rockman shook his head, smiling at his friends. "It's nothing, it's just . . ." He paused, thinking about a substitute about what he was really thinking. "I was just thinking about what happened a few weeks back. You know: the NetNavi in the school system . . ."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that," Iceman said. "Psh, that was easy for you. Why are you worrying about that?"

"Yeah, de gustu," Gutsman stated, gripping his fist tightly.

"I'm just thinking, that's all," Rockman stated. "Things have been quiet around here, hadn't they?" he asked them with a grin.

"You mean with the Net Mafia and the cyber beasts?" Glyde inquired, placing his hands behind his back. "But you are right, Rockman, things _have_ been rather dull around here."

"Yeah, and if you two keep on talking like that, something _will_ happen," Roll said with a tiny smile. "Should we knock on wood?"

The NetNavis laughed a little. Rockman swallowed, and scratched the back of his head. In reality, he was just a little worried. Sharo military jets here in Japan. He felt it in his gut. Something was up. Glyde turned his head up, looking at his young NetOp and their friends hard to work at their school work. He leaned in, looking at his NetNavi friends.

"Do any of you want to leave them alone to do their work?" the tall brown and gold NetNavi inquired, thumbing over his shoulder. "I'd think it best to give them the time they need."

Roll gave a simple nod of her head. "Sounds okay to me," she stated. The pink-clad NetNavi looked to the rest of her friends, hoping to get their advice. "Who wants to go to Internet City to kill some time?"

"Gutsman would, de gustu," the large, bumbling NetNavi agreed, placing his large hand to his round chest. "Gutsman do whatever Roll-_chan_ like, de gustu."

Iceman shrugged his shoulders, a small smile on his round face. "Sounds good to me," he said. "I need a change of scenery."

Roll looked at the blue-clad NetNavi she was clinging to, and smiled in his direction. "What about you, Rock-_kun_?" she inquired, her bright green eyes shining.

Rockman smiled at her, a tiny blush forming on his cheeks. "Sure thing, Roll-_chan_," he said. "I'll just go tell Netto-_kun_ and the others. I'll meet you all there."

"Where should we meet you?"

"How about the front entrance?"

Roll nodded, letting go of her friend's arm. "We'll meet'cha there," she said, and her and the rest of the NetNavis logged out of the ice cream parlor's homepage.

Rockman turned around, and converted himself into a holographic form, looking at his NetOp, who was gripping at his hair, glaring at his homework. "Netto-_kun_," he called. "Netto-_kun_."

The spiky-haired boy glanced at over at his blue-clad NetNavi, arching an eyebrow to him. "What?" he inquired.

"Roll and the others and I are going to Internet City to kill some time," Rockman informed his NetOp. "Is that okay?"

Netto waved his hand. "Go ahead, have fun, and leave us to rot," he said with a small smile.

Meiru looked at her friend, and shook her head, looking at the small holographic figure. "Go on, have fun," she said.

"Thanks, Meiru-_chan_," Rockman said, vanishing from view.

Netto sighed, and scribbled on his homework, his fingers tangled in his hair. Meiru leaned across, looking at his sloppy mess of homework. "No, this is wrong," she said, tapping at his mathematical equation. "It should be like this."

She grabbed his pencil, erased his markings, and rewrote his equation. "See? Like this," she said.

Netto cocked his head to the side, looking at her writing. "What did I do?" he inquired to her.

Meiru pulled her chair closer. "I'll show you," she said.

* * *

"Hook it up," Yuuichiro stated, his body fully rested and well. "It was a USB cable, right?"

"Correct," Laika said, finding the secret compartment on the Cube. He pulled out the cable, and pulled it out, walking over to the nearest computer, and plugged it in.

The Cube began to glow brightly, and the other Cube in the Cyberworld started to move even more violently. The NetNavis watched, all in awe and even horrified by what they were watching. Searchman stared at it, his jaw slack. Yuuichiro nodded, fascinated by what he was watching. Just then, a flat hologram popped up in the real world, being projected from the large glowing Cube. Meijin approached it, looking at the hologram.

"It's a keyboard," he said, looking at the letter tiles and a long bar, a cursor flashing on the bar.

Yuuichiro and Laika approached Meijin's side, looking at it. "It wants a password," Yuuichiro said, looking at the Cube.

"Great, now what?" Laika inquired. "We don't have the password."

Yuuichiro looked at the Cube, at the square-shaped hologram, looked at the Cube, and back at the hologram. "Hey, since this is the same type of cube as in the Rubik's Cube, maybe the password is that," he said.

Meijin nodded his head, waving his finger in his friend's direction. "I was just thinking that," he said, looking back at the Cube. He looked at his close friend. "Want to try that theory?"

Yuuichiro nodded, and touched the Cube. "Laika, tell Searchman to move the cube in the Cyberworld," he said. "Move this to the right."

Laika nodded, and restated what the doctor had said to him.

"Move this to the left."

Searchman did so. Each time one side moved, there was a clicking sound. _Click_. _Click_. The sides were lining up, the clicking growing louder.

"Move the middle."

Searchman did so.

"Move the left."

_Click_.

_Click_.

The Cube was glowing brighter and brighter. Searchman grabbed a side, and pushed it, the layer rotating, clicking into place. The soldier NetNavi ran to the other side due to the doctor's orders, and grabbed the middle layer, pushing it downward. The Cube in the real world was starting to glow even brighter than before, and started to shake. Laika watched, much like a doe in the headlights of a truck. Yuuichiro was fiercely staring at the computer, his mind going through all the arithmetic formulas that ever were created. Searchman grabbed an upper right corner, and pulled it to the right. It clicked in place.

"Good, good, keep going, Searchman," Yuuichiro stated. "Move the middle down and then turn it to the right."

Searchman grabbed that side, and did what the scientist stated.

"Yes, now, take the right lower layer, moving it upward, and then moved it to the left."

Searchman did so. Yuuichiro was gripping at the desk that was under his hands, staring at the screen. "Good, good," he said. "Move the upper layer to the left, and move it down."

Laika watched the Cube in the real world. It was starting to break apart. Mini-cubes broke apart, and started to defy gravity. This was impossible, but alas, it was happening. And that was when Yuuichiro gave his final command:

"Move the lower to the left, and then move it upward. Then take the top layer, and switch it downward."

_Click_.

And then, in the real world, there was a flash of pure white light. It was so strong that it shattered the glass on the windows as the rays pierced through them. The scientists and the military man opened their eyes when the light died. Meijin looked at the Cube in the real world. It was formed in the shape of a square arch, and instead of seeing the other side of the room through the arch, there was a water-like substance. Meijin blinked, looking at the still, gravity-defying liquid. He stepped forward, and reached out to touch it. It was cold, alas, it was not wet. He pulled back his hand, looking at the palm. Laika was still, his jaw slack.

"What is this?" he inquired. "What the hell is that?"

Yuuichiro looked at the newly-formed arch in awe. "A gate," he said. "A gate."

"A gate to where?"

"Beyondard?" stated a random scientist.

"Beyondard? You think?" asked another scientist in a low whisper.

"What else would it be?"

Yuuichiro shook his head. "No, maybe it isn't a gate to Beyondard," he said.

"Should the Net Saviors get on this?"

"No, not yet," Yuuichiro stated. "We're unsure of what lays beyond this door. We need to send a robot through this door."

Meijin bobbed his head, and glanced up at the arch. "Yes, then we'll call upon them," he said. "Well, let's get this started."

* * *

Giga's eyes popped open, her glowing purple markings flashed in her surprise. She glanced around, her eyes scanning the area. "The Gate—the Cube," she said in a low tone. "It is activated."

She was sitting in her chair, one of her pet's head in her lap. Her pet was a large, cyber wolf-like being with six legs, and a long, forked tail. The People of the United States of America (even the Confederate States of America—even though they were a totally different country ruled by their own president and had their own law) referred to her darling pets as "hellhounds." What was so hellish about her babies? They were ideal pets. She told one of them to kill someone; they did it, just like good dogs should do. Several of her pets were laying around in the computer comp, all hoping to get her attention. Giga stood up, stroking a few of her six-legged monsters, and approached a door, opening it, her pets following behind submissively. Giga went through several hallways and doors before she reached as to where she wanted to be. She cleared her throat, looking at a green-glowing NetNavi sitting down in his elaborate throne. His suit was shaped to look like a tailed tuxedo, his helmet was pointed, and over his eyes were covered by a visor. He held onto a staff, and looked up at her.

"Authority Giga," he breathed.

She bowed, and her pets followed her example. "Authority Program," Giga breathed. "My program senses that the lost Gate has been activated."

He smirked diabolically. "Perfect," he said. "Those little Children of Liberty groupies could not hide it well enough?"

"I do not think so," Giga said. "Their leader is an ex-marine, and she was not very smart. What else could one expect?"

"Oh, I think Rule would love to hear this," Program said, rubbing at his pointed beard. "Why don't you go break the news to her?"

"I would be delighted, Authority Program."

"And after that, let's pay a little visit to those who activated the Cube—the Gate to the Worlds," Program then suggested.

Giga smiled deviously. "Oh, sounds fun, sir," she said. She turned to her pets, and casted them away. The dog-like programs submissively walked back to their rooms.

"You have them trained well," Program stated, his tone slightly amused.

"Well, they were the best marine NetNavis around, that is, before they lost to my lovely game."

Program laughed, and Giga joined in as she logged out, disappearing from view.

* * *

Giga soon found herself in the prison system. There in tiny cells were NetNavis. They were going through a mental breakdown. It was obvious. They were in little corners of their cells, talking to themselves. Giga ignored them, and continued to walk through the metal hallways. There was some screaming in pain as some were being tortured by the guards, and the guards laughed in their deranged mirth. The floor glowed red with each step she made, and the walls were outlined in a sequence similar to the etching of a battle chip also glowed red. Giga walked on, reaching the cell she wanted to reach—Rule's cell. The blue and orange-clad NetNavi sat on a bench in her red illuminated cell, her knees pulled up, and with her default weapon—a sword—she was carving into the wall. It made sense not to touch the bars; they were reinforced.

"Hello, Rule," Giga coolly greeted her, resting her wrists on the little spaces between the bars.

Rule glared at her. "Hay, Giga, done feastin' on the souls of the innocent?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Giga cruelly smiled, but hatefully looked at the tailed NetNavi. "Oh, and guess what?" she said, her eyes wild as that twisted smille stretched across her face.

Rule was silent, her tail limp, her orange markings dulling—they were not as bright as they would normally were. They matched her foul mood, just like all Navi's markings did. Giga's markings, however, were glowing brightly, showing that she was more than pleased.

"I sensed it, I sensed it," Giga said in a sing-song voice.

"The Devil?"

"The hell with you, you little bitch," Giga said. "It's over. You lost. I can feel the Gate and the Cube. They are activated."

Rule's markings flashed brightly in horror, and then dulled; her eyes as big as saucers.

"That's right, my little darling," Giga said, leaning against the bars, smirking. "You failed to try to hide it. I can feel it in my programming. The Gate has been opened. I'll be taking back what is rightfully mine."

Rule stood up, her face flashed anger, and her hands were out in the form of fists. "Yah damn little whore," she screeched. The female NetNavi lunged, her hand trying to grab Giga's thin, elongated neck. "Yah damn bitch! Is yer greed fah powah dat strong? Musyah harm mohor innocents ta feed yah lust fah evil?"

Giga jumped back from Rule, an amused smirk forming on her thin lips. "My lust for evil, you say," she said, her spindly body moving like jelly, staring intensely at her. "I love power. Power and move make the world go 'round. The Authorities want power, and I want power. It's just that simple." Her hand thrust out, roughly grabbing Rule's thin chin, clenching her face tightly. "I will have power. You and your little friends will die. And you shall too, for the death of your NetOp."

Rule wretched her face from Giga's fast grip, rubbing at her chin as glowing acid green eyes narrowed into slits.

"Stupid little Boston girl," Giga sneered. "Something your feeble mind cannot understand."

Rule reached out to grab Giga, but she slapped it aside as if Giga had just swatted a harmless fly.

"If you're a good little girl, I'll make you my little pet, how about it?" Giga asked, smirking. "You can live, all you have to do is tell me where your friends are along with the Children of Liberty. How about it?"

Giga was the so-called "The Law-Holder" and the "devil-woman." Her word was law. Rule did not want to be some dog of this monster, and so she spat on Giga's face. Giga cringed back harshly, drying her face with the back of her heand, glaring at the orange-glowing NetNavi with utter malice.

"Death for you."

"I would die fah mah fhiends," Rule snapped quickly. "It's somethin' ya cannot understand! Yer toxic mind cannot fathom the beauteh of friendship 'n' love."

Giga snorted, her eyes hard on Rule's green orbs. "Worthless, you are absolutely pathetic," she sneered. "Love is worthless. Your love will be your downfall."

"I would take dat fall, fah love."

Giga looked at Rule, and then laughed. "You are _so_ stupid," she said dryly. "Stupid little Boston girl. Fine, be that way. May you die by _love_."

Giga walked away, chuckling to herself, and soon formed into a rumbling laughter. Rule shrunk back, her tail low, and she fell to the floor, her face blank. But her mind was reeling. Her hands were shaking, and she was whimpering.

* * *

**Yes, in this world, North lost to the South in the Civil War. So, there is a Confederate States of America, and there **_**is**_** slavery there—they are a totally different country.**


	4. Kidnapped

**Where the hell are my reviews? D:**

* * *

Kidnapped

III

"Hey! Hey! Let me outta here!" screamed a voice. "You don't have the right! I swear to God I'll kick your damn ass!"

The building the voice was in was cold, hard, and metallic. It was an underbelly-building cell-room. The voice had been here multiple times. It was the main holding place for prisoners until they get moved to prison or to the Court. There was one cop that sat in a metal chair, his feet propped up on the table, and he was reading a pornographic magazine. There were a total of three cells, two were occupied, however. One cell filled a silent prisoner, and the other cell filled a fiery, mocha-skinned girl. She was clinging to the bars, her hair wild. She was wearing slight rags. Her pants were torn; the right leg was almost completely gone. She wore a fairly old red scarf that hung lazily around her neck. Her skin was a lovely shade of mocha, however it was scarred horribly. On the right side of her body was tattooed with chip-like etchings that glowed blue when day turned night.

"You bastard! Where's Rule? I know you have her!"

The cop glanced over his magazine, his lips twisted upward.

"Where's Rule!" she screamed. "Where is she?"

"Oh, shut up, Cindy Hack," he hissed, and he relaxed into his hard chair.

"Thank you," the other prisoner muttered, looking right at the cop. He turned to where his cell-wall connected to Cindy's cell-wall. "Seriously, shut up."

Cindy glared at the wall, and kicked it harshly. "Shut up!" she snarled much like a wolf. "Shut your little whore-mouth!"

"What did you say to me!" he screamed, jumping up from his cot, glaring at the wall that connected both cells.

"You heard me!" she snapped back.

The cop stood up, and waved his hand around. "_That's_ _enough_," he snarled. He glared at Cindy, pointing harshly at her. "And you: shut up. Your little Rule is locked up, so quit screaming about it."

Cindy was gripping to the bars, and her eyes were hard on him. She reluctantly pulled away, and approached her cot, and slumped forward. She looked at the glowing tattoos that were marked on her body, and traced them with her fingers. She then looked at her right hand, where she had lost her ring finger. Cindy was silent, and she looked outside through her cell window, seeing the half-moon. She stood up, leaning against the wall. She glanced around her cell, trying to figure a way out of this hell of hers. If there was something that she learned from her NetNavi: never give up.

* * *

"So, it has been activated?"

"Yes, Mr. President," Program stated, giving a bow.

The President of the United States leaned against his chair, his hand against his chin. He was a heavyset man with the beginnings of a beard. His hair was greased back neatly, and his suit was perfect. Everything in his whole office was put in place. Nothing was out of order. It was how he worked. His fat fingers drummed on his desk, and he looked at his NetNavi's hologram.

"Okay, where's Giga?" he asked, running his tongue over his teeth.

Just then, Giga's hologram appeared next to Program. She bowed, her head low and her long arm across her flat chest. "Yes, Mr. President," she said.

"I want you to check who activated the Gate," he said in a lazy tone. "Whoever did must have been a scientist." His dark eyes moved to stare at her intently. "I want you to capture them as well. They might be useful—that is, if they are scientists."

Giga grinned devilishly. "Of course, Mr. President," she said. "Your word is law."

And with that, her hologram vanished. Program rubbed his thumb against his staff, and turned back to his NetOp. "Would you like for me to join?" he asked. "To make sure, of course."

The President looked at his NetNavi, and gave a short nod. Program then vanished.

* * *

Laika looked at the Gate. His jaw was slack, and his eyes were wide. He looked intensely at the liquid-like substance. He reached for it, and touched the gravity-defying liquid. It was cold to the touch, and he pulled back his hand, watching the liquid cling to his gloved fingers like it was pancake batter. He took a step back, shaking out his hand, watching as the substance spring from his fingers, and then it hit the ground, the goop vanishing slowly. Searchman shifted from foot to foot, his face curious.

"Strange," he whispered.

"Yes," Laika whispered. He observed the Gate itself. There was a loud humming sound—like the humming of a disk inside of a computer's tower. The Sharo man stepped away, and approached Meijin, standing next to him. "So, what do you think?"

"A gate to a parallel universe, I think," Meijin stated flatly. "It has to be."

"Great, another Beyondard," Laika muttered. He glanced around, searching for the famous scientist. "Where is Hikari-_hakase_?"

"Him and a few scientists are looking for a robot," he said. "So they can send it to whatever and where ever this gate goes."

Laika was silent, his mind reeling. He sighed, and rested against a desk behind him. "This is insane," he said. "I can't believe this . . . We have to deal with something dangerous again."

Meijin silently agreed. He placed his hands into his pockets, and stared at the Gate intensely. He placed his hands into his pockets, and exhaled through his nostrils. It was a few minutes later until Yuuichiro returned with a few of his scientists with him. A large car-like robot was being rolled in on a small trolley. The scientist that was pushing the machine paused, and removed the robot from its ramp, and rested it on the floor. Yuuichiro patted his hand on the top of the machine, and smiled.

"This is what we'll be sending into the vortex," he said. "It has a built-in camera that has a wireless connection so we can see what's going on." The main scientist approached one of the many computers, and his fingers danced over the keyboard. A large window popped up, displaying a black screen. He glanced over to another scientist. "Turn on the camera."

He nodded, and did what he said. The camera on the top of the robot flickered to life. There were a few clicks as the camera started to focus. On the computer screen came around, showing what the camera was seeing—the laboratory and some scientists that were in view. Yuuichiro beamed, giving a nod of his head.

"Good, where's the remote?"

"Here, doctor," one woman stated, holding out the robot's remote control.

"Thank you," he said, taking it from her hands. Yuuichiro looked at the device for a few seconds before flipping it on. "Now, let's see what's beyond this portal." He reached for the tiny silver levers, his thumbs touching the cold metal. He moved the machine back and forth to test the robot's functions. When he came to the conclusion that the machine was in tip-top shape, he moved it to the general direction of the open portal.

The little robot paused before moving towards the Gate. The liquid formation twitched when the machine approached it. The machine moved forward, the water-creation moved around the object as it vanished from behind it. Everyone crowded around the one computer screen, trying to see what the camera was seeing. So far, the window was black. Just then, light appeared. Not much light, but light. It was a pale orange and it flashed from bright to dull. The robot then entered to be what appeared to be a large room. The orange light was lined sequenced along the walls. There was no other light in the room other than that. However, the light that was provided gave the audience a view of what they were seeing.

It was a laboratory. Several desks lined the walls, and there were papers that covered some of the desks. The room was empty—not a soul was there. Yuuichiro moved the little robot forward, rotating the camera around to get a better view. The ceiling was a high one, and it arched downward in an oval-shape.

"Where is this?" Searchman whispered to himself, staring with interest at the screen.

"It looks like a laboratory," Laika answered, placing his hands on the desk under him.

Yuuichiro turned the camera around, and saw another Gate. It was active, just like the one in this world. The scientist turned the camera forward, and the robot advanced. The room was large—it was even bigger than Yuuichiro's laboratory. There were some whispers. The robot froze, and Yuuichiro moved the robot backwards to hide behind a table. The whispers echoed. It was hard to figure out what they were saying. Laika leaned forward towards the computer, trying to decipher the low voices.

"Doctor, move the robot forward a little more," the Sharo man said.

"Right," Yuuichiro said, doing what the foreigner said.

"Be careful," Meijin warned, watching the screen intensely.

The robot slowly inched forward as the voices started to become louder. The main scientist stopped his machine, and moved it to cover behind a wall.

"_So, the Gate has been activated_," one voice said. "_What does the Authority want us to do?_"

"_Well, isn't it obvious—he wants us to check it out_," the second voice stated. "_That is what Giga told us. We might have to raid the place_."

The others that were watching the computer froze, and glanced around, confused and horrified. But they remained silent, wanting to listen to the two voices. There was some laughter.

"_Ha! This is pathetic_," the first voice chuckled. "_That Cindy, Rule, and their friends did a horrible job hiding the other Gate and Cube_."

"_Tell me about_ _it_," the second voice laughed.

"_Well, let's get the rest of the Marines. We're gunna raid the place_."

"_Yep_."

There were some footsteps on the metal flooring, and the voices faded from hearing length. The scientist were silent, their hearts thumping in their breasts. The NetNavis were in a panic; exchanging glances between each other and flashing worried looks. Laika glanced up at Yuuichiro, trying his best to remain calm. "What should we do?" he asked.

Yuuichiro twitched, his mind racing. "Get Kifune," he said. "Get the police. This is getting crazy."

"Let's get out of there," Meijin stated, shifting his weight from side to side. "Get the robot outta there."

Yuuichiro nodded his head, and moved the tiny metal handles on the remote control. "Rodger that," he said, turning the robot around to the direction of the Gate.

When the robot turned around, there stood a human body. Yuuichiro and the others' hearts nearly skipped a beat when they noticed the man. The human in the other world was wearing clothing that had glowing lines around the collar, and down the front of it. Even on his skin there were glowing lines. Down the right of his face, all the way down his neck, chest, arm, and stopped at his stomach. The glowing patterns could be noticed underneath the fabric. A sly smirk formed at the corner of his lips.

"What do we have here?"

Yuuichiro quickly moved the robot, and it zoomed from the man. The human on the other side let out a surprised grunt, and he started to chase after the machine. That was when the camera jerked—like the machine had been snatched up—and a hand blocked the view of the small camera. There was some smashing sounds, and the camera ceased to work. The screen went completely black, only a few bits of static jolted across the screen. Laika hissed, and looked to the Gate.

"Quick! Turn that thing off!" he ordered, pointing at the Gate. "They can't get in here!"

Several scientists rushed to the Gate, trying to turn it off. They quickly worked at the Cube, trying to disconnect the machine. Tiny static sparked from the ports, and zapped one of the scientists. He hissed, gripping his throbbing hand.

"We can't turn it off!" screamed the scientist.

Laika pushed through the crowd of frantic scientists, and approached the Cube. He grabbed the cable, and tried to yank it from its port, only to get shocked. The military man yelped, yanking his hands back. His gloves were burnt, and his flesh was burned. Yuuichiro turned to his closest friend, yelling:

"Call Commissioner Kifune!"

Meijin nodded his head sharply, and rushed from the room, and went to the lobby. Yuuichiro ran to the Cube, and looked around it, trying to find a way to manually turn it off. "Is there a switch?" he called, glancing around frantically.

"Not that I know of," Laika snapped, reaching for the cable, ignoring the fact that he was being slightly electrified. His hands started to bleed from the currents, and the crimson liquid rolled down his skin and onto the floor below him. "Searchman, turn off the program!"

"Rodger, Laika-_san_!"

Searchman stared at the cube-like program, his eyes scanning over it. There had to be a way to turn it off. The other NetNavis were frantic, trying to turn off the program manually. Searchman hissed, his mind racing. Soon he acted, and joined the rest of the NetNavis. They were frantic, and they really had no idea as to what to do.

"Can't you disconnect it?" Searchman roared, glaring at a few of the frightened NetNavis.

"It won't work!" one cried, reaching for the Cube, only to be thrown back by the static force. A few other NetNavis crowded around him, and helped him up. "It just won't work!"

Searchman shook his head, his face showed all defiance one could muster. "No, there's always a way!" he cried. "You just need to think!" He opened a window near him, drawing up the current status of the Cube. As far as he was shown, everything was normal. Perhaps they were going at it the wrong way. There had to be a way to correctly shut the program down. But it was too late.

Something from the other world threw a round object into the office. It rolled down from the gravity-defying liquid that the Gate created. Everyone paused for a moment, just watching what had came from the other world. Laika and Yuuichiro's eyes widened in horror, but before they could react, huge plumes of gas came from the round object, and it quickly filled the whole room. The scientists gagged, trying their best to breathe, but to no prevail. One by one, they stumbled into unconsciousness. Laika clung to a desk, not wanting to give in. He looked up, his eyes half-open, and saw a figure through the smoke. The person was tall, and had their body covered in red glowing lines. Before he knew it, the mysterious man's boot smashed into his face, and Laika was knocked out. Searchman, from the computer, gasped.

"Laika-_san_!" he cried.

The glowing man turned to the computer, and smirked. "You'll be useful," he said, reaching for Searchman's PET (he assumed it has to be his since he had the same NetNavi emblem on his hands and helmet that was on the PET). He logged him back into the device, locked it, and muted it so Searchman would render useless.

A few more Marines entered the laboratory, glancing around, masks adorned on their faces, and guns at the ready. The first man pocketed Searchman's PET into his pocket, and looked at his men. "We're in a lab," he said. "You know what that means . . .?"

"Search the area," answered a female Marine.

He gave a simple nod of his head, and the Marines quickly scattered the area, shutting down the systems so the researchers NetNavis could not run for help. The Marines quickly plugged their NetNavis into the systems to silent the "enemy." The scientists NetNavis had not a single idea as to what to do. They knew that they stood no chance against these strong glowing NetNavis, and they were quickly subdued. The human and NetNavi Marines quickly searched they systems, wanting to find something useful. The main Marine glanced around, looking at Yuuichiro's limp body. He approached his side, and reached into his pocket, finding the man's nametag.

"Yuuichiro Hikari," he said with a small chuckle.

One Marine glanced at her leader. "You know him?" she asked, completely confused.

"He's in our world, too," he answered her. "He's Jippon's best scientist."

"So, he's a doppelganger or something?"

"I reckon that there's multiple Yuuichiro Hikaris in multiple universes," he said. "He'll be useful to us. The Yuuichiro in our world won't do business with us." He looked up at his soldier with a smirk. "But this one will. We'll be taking him with us."

"Yes, sir," she said, bending down, scooping him up by his shoulders, and dragged him through the Gate.

Another Marine approached his boss, holding a file. "Look at this," he said, opening up the yellow folder.

The boss looked at all the drawings and papers of the Dimensional Area and of the Synchro Chip. He reached for them, and held them up, getting a better view of them himself. "_'Synchro Chip_,'" he breathed. "'_Fuses NetNavi and NetOp in one being_ _. . ._' Oooh, this sounds good. '_Can only be used with Dimensional Area_.' So, where's this dimensional area?"

His soldier flipped through some more papers, and handed him one about the Dimensional Area. "Here, sir," he said.

The leader took the paper from his soldier, and glanced over it, reading everything about the device. "Hmm, so there should be one around in here," he said. The marine glanced over at a few in his squad. "You, take over the place, and round up this item." He flashed them the drawing of the Dimensional Area. "Now go."

The soldiers saluted, and rushed out of the room, guns drawn. The leader could hear muffled screams of scared workers, and the loud orders of his men. He turned to the rest of his squad. "Collect the rest of the scientists, and let's get a move on."

They did what was expected of them, and started to pluck up the unconscious learned men and women, pulling them into the other world. The last one to leave was the main Marine. He waited until all of his soldiers were gone from the room, and he approached a computer. He typed on the keyboard, completely rewriting the Cube—he had set it to locked mode. He then quickly ran through the Gate as it started to shut down, and revert to its original cube state. Only the other Gate in the other world could open this Gate. They could try to hack it, but it would be nearly impossible to break the code. They thought breaking the code the first time was difficult, they were terribly wrong.

* * *

**Jippon= the mash-up of Japan and Nippon. :|**


	5. Survival of the Fittest

Survival of the Fittest

IV

"What? Yuuichiro and some of the scientists have been kidnapped?"

Commissioner Kifune was standing up from his chair, looking at his computer screen with utter incomprehension and horror. On the screen he saw a disheveled Laika, who had a large black-purple bruise over his face. The foreigner nodded his head slowly.

"And they took Searchman," he muttered, his tone bitter and resentful. These lowlifes took his NetNavi, and he was going to make sure that he would find them, and get his NetNavi back.

Manabe cringed at the sight, her hands right over her breast as she looked at him. "What happened to you, Laika-_kun_?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"They knocked me out—the soldiers," Laika muttered, reaching up to lightly touch his bruised face. "Not only that, they took the research on the Dimensional Area and the Syncro Chip."

Kifune cringed. He sat down in his leather chair, and hunched over on his desk, arching his fingers. "This is bad," he muttered. "Why wasn't I contacted sooner about this?"

"Hikari-_hakase_ was going to tell you _after_ we figured out what it was," Laika swiftly answered, his eyebrows knitted. "He just wanted to know what it was."

"Has Netto-_kun_ been contacted, along with Hikari-_hakase's_ wife?" the Commissioner inquired hastily.

Laika froze, and twitched at the thought. "No, sir, they have not," he answered blandly.

"Well, they must be updated about this," Kifune said quickly.

That was when Meijin stepped in front of the camera, looking equally as distressed. "I will take the liberty of telling Netto-_kun_ what has happened," he said gravely.

"Thank you, Meijin-_san_."

"Please, no formalities."

Kifune bobbed his head, his mouth pressed tightly together. Meijin left the Commissioner's sight, and all that was left was Laika. "I will see if I can get a hold of the other Net Saviors," he told the mint-haired boy. "Once I contact them, I will come to the Science Labs."

"Sounds good, sir."

* * *

"Rockman, you want to check out some of the new shops?"

Rockman glanced over at Roll, giving her a sweet smile. "There are new shops?" he inquired. "I didn't hear about that."

Glyde maneuvered around the crowd, and glanced back at the two behind him. "Oh, yes, there's a new chip shop," he said. "And, if I remember correctly, there's a new shop selling Navi items."

"A new BattleChip shop?" Iceman asked, looking up at the taller NetNavi. "It seems that Higureya has some competition."

"Yes, it appears so," Glyde answered with a small smile.

Roll clung to Rockman's arm as they walked, Gutsman eyeing them enviously. Internet City was bustling with activity, just like it would normally. There was nothing out of the ordinary, which was nice for a change. Nothing running around trying to cause mischief; nothing dangerous anything. But the last thing he wanted was to jinx himself. Rockman took in a sharp breath, and exhaled heavily. Roll glanced at him with an heir of curiosity, but said nothing. He turned to her, beaming like the sun.

"Well, which store would you like to visit first?" he asked his pink-clad NetNavi friend.

Roll perked up, and started to yank her friend along. "Come, this way," she said.

* * *

Meijin looked at the Hikari residence with a blank face. He sighed, and grudgingly approached the comfy and cozy residence. He soon reached the door, staring at the wood for a while before giving it a sharp knock. There was some scuffling, and the door opened, Mrs. Hikari greeting him.

"Oh, hello, Meijin-_san_," she said.

"Please, no formalities," he said solemnly.

Mrs. Hikari looked at the other human, arching her eyebrow. "What's wrong?" she inquired, trying to search his face.

"My I come in?" he asked.

"Well, sure," she said, stepping aside for him.

Meijin stepped inside, and he removed his shoes. The house was very homey and comforting. He reached up, his hand going through his messy hair. Mrs. Hikari walked to the kitchen, grabbing a tea pot from the stove.

"Would you like some tea?" she inquired, pouring herself a cup.

"No, no thank you," Meijin said. He glanced around, noticing that Netto or Rockman were in their home. "Where's Netto and Rockman?"

"They're with their friends at the ice cream parlor," she answered. "Why?"

"Well, I was hoping to talk to them too," Meijin said. "But, I guess I must speak with you first." He turned to her. "Hikari-_san_, may you sit?"

She paused, looking at him in confusion, her hands tightly held to her cup. "Oh, o-okay," she said, moving over to the couch. Mrs. Hikari sat down, staring at the man before her. "What is it?"

He sat next to her, and sighed throatily. "Hikari-_san_, it's about your husband," Meijin said in a low voice.

"M-my husband?" she inquired, her voice shaking. "What's wrong? What happened to him?"

"Well," he whispered. "I can't explain the details, but he . . . he has been kidnapped."

Mrs. Hikari shivered, her eyes large and horrified. Her hands were shaking, and she was speechless. "W-w-what?" she demanded, finally finding her voice. "My husband's been kidnapped?"

"Yes," Meijin answered. "I'm so sorry."

She was scared, confused—bombarded with too many emotions, she could not keep track with them all. Mrs. Hikari slumped forward, cradling her head in her hands, her hair falling in front of her face. Meijin looked at her for just a moment or two before placing his hand upon her shoulder, and sighing deeply.

"Ma'am," he whispered when he started to hear her faint sobs, "we'll do what we can to help him. We'll find him, I promise."

There was pitter-patter coming from outside, also some childish, innocent laughter. Meijin glanced up to the front door, recognizing Netto's voice. The front door then opened.

"And then he—" Netto cut himself short, turning away from his friends, and hung at the doorframe. The laughter from his friends died in their throats as they looked at the scene. Netto looked from his sobbing mother, to Meijin, then back to his mother. He removed his shoes, and approached them, his friends following his example. "Mama, wha-what's wrong?"

Mrs. Hikari shivered, and quickly dried her eyes, staring up at her son. "Honey," she whispered, reaching for his arm. "Sit, sit."

Rockman looked at the woman, his hands hanging at his stomach-level. "Mama, what's wrong?" he inquired.

She looked at the little NetNavi hologram, her eyes watering. "Oh, honey," she whispered to both to them. Mrs. Hikari's head drooped, her hand still gripping her son's arm. "Your father—he's—he—"

Meiru looked at the older woman, her eyes searching her face. "Hikari-_san_, what happened?" she asked gently.

"He's been k-kidnapped—y-you're father has b-been kidnapped."

Silence filled every corner of the home. However, Netto could hear his heart beat in his breast. His mind was frantic, his eyes wide, and his jaw clenched. Rockman was scared, and he looked at his NetOp, his eyes just as equally wide. Yaito looked briefly at Glyde, who was flabbergasted, and his hand held up near his round brown chest.

"Kidnapped?" Glyde echoed. "By who?"

"Yeah!" Netto cried, a strong and brave expression plastered on his face. "Who did it? I'll strangle them!"

"It's hard to explain, Netto-_kun_," Meijin stated. "But I must return to the Science Labs." He stood up, and comfortingly patted the woman's shoulder. "I'll see what I can do to help, Hikari-_san_." He turned to Netto. "I promise."

Meijin motioned for the young children to sit, and he handed the only mother in the room her tea. Netto sat near his mother, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. Meiru sat on the other side, holding the older woman's hands. Yaito and Dekao sat on the same couch in silence.

"Don't worry, Hikari-_san_," Yaito said, staring sadly at the older woman. "Everything will be okay."

Mrs. Hikari reached up, drying her eyes. "Oh, God, how could this be happening?" she whispered.

Netto looked at his mother, his jaw still clenched. Dekao gently nudged his friend, hoping that he would say something. The spiky-haired boy sighed, and held his mother. "Don't worry, Mama," he said sternly. "I'll figure this out. I'll get Papa back."

"Yeah, we'll just go to the Science Labs and see what happened," Yaito said, griping her hand in a fist.

"Yeah, they couldn't have run too far," Dekao said, placing his closes fist into his open hand.

"Um," Meijin said, turning his head away the group.

And they all stared at him with baited breath.

"What? What?" Netto's mother demanded, her eyes even wider than before. "What do you mean 'um'?"

"Well, he's been taken . . . to another world," Meijin said. "I think you have the right to know."

"Another world?" Meiru inquired, staring at the man.

"Like Beyondard?" Roll asked, her hands near her chin.

"We're not too sure as to _where_ but it is _not_ Beyondard," Meijin answered swiftly. "It is another Earth, that is for certain."

"Who has taken him?" Netto said sharply. But then he sighed, allowing himself to calm.

"Soldiers," he answered.

"What?" Tohru whispered. "Army men?"

"I think they said that they were Marines," Meijin corrected himself. "They also stole a few other scientists and Searchman."

"Searchman too!" Rockman cried. "What for?"

"We believe that they want our research," the older man answered. "They took research on the Dimensional Area and the Synchro Chip."

Netto's blood in his veins ran cold. "That can't be good," he whispered, bending forward, his hand running through his thick hair.

"What do they want that for?" Dekao asked, reaching up to scratch his head.

"Who knows," Yaito hissed, a frown creased across her lips. "Who knows . . .?"

* * *

Rule's tail twitched gently, the rest of the tail limp in her sadness. The female NetNavi had her body resting against the wall as she sat on her pathetic little cot. She reached behind, and grabbed her mess of pastel red hair. Rule thought of Cindy Hack, hoping that she was safe. Just then, there were footsteps, and Giga graced Rule's vision. The tall, slender NetNavi grinned, leaning against the mouth of the cell.

"Hey, Rule," Giga said smirking deviously. "How's it going?"

Rule glared at the other NetNavi. "Peachy," she sneered, her hands combing her hair vigorously. "Just damn peachy."

"Oh, good," Giga said. "Well, the portal has been opened, as you may or may not know."

"I'm so happy fah ya," Rule hissed, and she mockingly clapped her hands.

Giga ran her tongue over her teeth, and snorted. "It's a shame you wouldn't join our cause," she said. "You are a fabulous warrior. Perfect killer. After all, you killed your own NetOp—now that was cold."

"He had it comin'—the rat bastahad," Rule hissed, ripping out some of her hair by accident. She cringed, and pulled her hands from the pastel-red mass.

"But you still managed to do it," Giga said. "I will spare you the death penalty—"

"I will not join ya," Rule sneered, slowing her speech. "Nor will I tell ya wheah mah fhiends ah."

Giga glared at the other female NetNavi, and shook her head. "You have always been irrational," she said with a sigh. "Such a perfect NetNavi too—what a waste. You would have been a perfect soldier." She pulled away from the cell, her gangly body swaying as she fixed her form. "All well, I best be off. After all, I've got a game to watch. So long." She walked from the view of Rule, but then she returned. "Oh, I forgot to mention: your court hearing is tomorrow." And with that, Giga left.

Rule blinked, and pushed herself against the wall of her cell. In her mind, she started to develop a plan.

* * *

Searchman was like a tiger in a cage much too small to hold him. He had been kidnapped! Was his NetOp safe? Where was Laika? The soldier NetNavi glanced around, his hair shaking as he did so. There were two other NetNavis in the same cell as he was. Searchman hissed, and kicked the cell wall in anger.

"Oh, give it up, man, you en't getting out of here," one NetNavi said, trying to make himself more comfortable.

The camouflaged NetNavi turned around, staring at the two male NetNavis with a confused face. His jaw went slack as he stared at them. "You have given up?" he yelled.

"Well, yeah," the first NetNavi said, shrugging his shoulders in his obvious sadness. "There's no way out." The first NetNavi was a humanoid one with a several-shaded purple suit with white glowing markings.

The second NetNavi who looked like a human, but his body was more built than that of the first NetNavi. He was coloured orange with white glowing markings as well. He had his hand out, curious about the other NetNavi. He did not glow, which was odd.

"There is always a way out," Searchman growled, kicking at the metal bars in his way. They did not falter. "You just have to use your head."

"It doesn't matter if you are smart or not," the first NetNavi hissed, his glowing yellow eyes upon Searchman. "The Law-Holder will end up catching you again."

Searchman turned around to the other Navi. "Law-Holder?" he echoed. "Who is he?"

"You don't know the Law-Holder?" the second NetNavi exclaimed, his voice deep. His glowing markings glowed brightly, and then it died down to the normal magnitude.

"Well, no," Searchman said. "I haven't been here very long—I don't even know where I am at."

The two NetNavis exchanged confused looks.

"Are you a foreigner?" the second Navi asked.

Searchman nodded his head. He was not lying. He _was_ a foreigner after all. In the parallel cell, another NetNavi stood by the cell bars, her hands through them and gripping. "Giga's now taking foreign NetNavis?" she called.

"I guess," the purple Navi said.

"Who is Giga? Who is he?" Searchman demanded.

"_She_ is the Law-Holder," the orange Navi said, a snarl on his lips. "She makes the laws—she is also one of the Authorities, the first being her NetOp."

Searchman cocked his head to the side. "So, she rules this country?" he inquired. "Is that correct?"

"Yeah, that's correct," the female NetNavi hissed. "Authority Giga. She's a horrid woman."

Searchman turned around, looking at the female. "What do you mean?" he asked, brows furrowed.

"She's a monster," she said, her body shaking. "She kills off those who are not 'pure' or 'perfect,' hence us."

"Yep, those who are not worthy to live come here," the first male NetNaiv said, tapping his foot on the floor. He turned away, his face etched with complete sadness and hopelessness.

Searchman looked at the purple NetNavi with a solemn face. He moistened his lips, and opened his mouth: "Where is 'here'?"

"The Cells," the orange NetNavi answered. "We're just waiting."

"For what?"

"The Tournaments."

"What are they?" Searchman inquired, almost dreading what it could be.

"Giga's sick little thing for entertainment," the female Navi spat. "She puts us in a large coliseum-like building, and watch us fight to the death. It is a special viewing for those loyal to her and for those in the government."

"Fight to the death?" Searchman said, his eyes wide. "By who?"

"Other prisoners or viruses," the orange NetNavi whispered. "Think of it like the Roman games. Whoever is left standing wins, and Giga will reconsider killing you. She might just repurpose you; make you into of of hers."

Searchman was left speechless. "What about your NetOps?" he demanded.

All three NetNavis grew silent. He glanced around at them, but then turned to the purple Navi that was sitting down. "They've been locked up," he said. "If we win, Giga will free our NetOps."

Searchman had a chill run down his spine. The purple male NetNavi turned to him. "I cannot allow my NetOp to die," he said icily. "If we ever fight, man, please do not hate me, but I must kill you. I must save my NetOp."

The Sharo NetNavi was silent, but then he spoke: "If you are not considered 'pure' what will stop this Giga from killing your NetOp? Was he considered 'pure'?"

The purple NetNavi turned to look away, and he swallowed sharply. Searchman decided not to speak anymore, and he took his seat on the ground. He only looked up when the orange male NetNavi stared curiously at him.

"What?" Searchman growled.

"Why don't you glow?" he inquired.

Searchman cocked his head to the side. He looked all around, that was when he noticed that everything in this world was glowing. The floor he was sitting on glowed, the ceiling, the NetNavis—this world was odd. But it made sense why it had to glow—this world was very dark compared to his home world.

"I just don't," Searchman said.

There was the sound of a door opening, and all three of the NetNavis froze. There were other NetNavis in this prison, Searchman realized. He just saw a guard yank out another male NetNavi, and pull him away. Just then a tall and odd-looking NetNavi walk up to the cell, peering down at Searchman with a smirk. This NetNavi was very tall—probably taller than Glyde. No, not probably, _was_ taller than Glyde. Searchman quickly stood up, not sure of what he was going to do. This NetNavi looked at him, and smirked.

"Oh, I remember you," she said in a bored tone.

The other NetNavis cringed at the sight of her, but Searchman stood strong. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"How dare you speak to Authority Giga that way," a guard NetNavi hissed at Searchman.

Giga lifted her hand up, calming her guard. "Calm yourself," she said. "Take these NetNavis, all three of them."

"Yes, ma'am," the guard said. He opened the door, and he reached for Searchman, his sword drawn. Two other guards grabbed the two other prisoners, yanking them from the safety of their cell. Searchman was pushed down the hall, getting a final glance at the female NetNavi before he was separated from the other NetNavis.

* * *

He was put into a little room, much smaller than the cell he was in before. It felt like a tiny elevator—he could barely move around in the room he was locked in. He shifted uncomfortably in the space that was offered to him. The tiny room jolted, and Searchman could feel the room move upward. There was some cheering, Searchman could hear. When the doors opened, he saw a large arena. In the far seats there were NetNavis—those loyal to the Authorities. There were screens of human faces that hung in the cyberspace. There was some clapping and cheering. Searchman swallowed sharply, and his body started to prepare for a fight. At the front, there was a stand where a NetNavi was. He opened his arms, and looked over the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he called. "Welcome to the Tournaments!"

There was more clapping and cheering. Searchman felt uncomfortable in the spotlight. He shifted and glanced around, gripping his gun tightly. The NetNavi that was talking moved his hand, and outstretched it to Searchman.

"And here is our first battle," he called. "Bring out the next NetNavi!"

Far from the Sharo NetNavi, another door opened, and out came another NetNavi came out. It was a wolf-like NetNavi with long claws and a thick tail. It moved forward, snarling at Searchman, but in his eyes he felt horrible. The wolf-like NetNavi moved forward, Searchman mimicking him. The wolf NetNavi stood high up, snorting deeply.

"I'm sorry, man," the taller NetNavi said sadly. "But I want to live."

He moved down, crouching, snarling. Searchman swallowed, and narrowed his eyes at the wolf NetNavi, prepared for the battle. The roars of the crowd filled the atmosphere, and the announced called:

"Let the Survival of the Fittest begin!"


	6. Battle for the Brave

Battle for the Brave

V

Yuuichiro opened his eyes, meeting a blinding light. He closed his eyes quickly, wincing, and turned his head away from the strong light, a ghost of a groan passing his lips. He glanced around, noticing that he was sitting in a cell (when his eyes grew adjusted to the light blubs above). He recognized the people sitting next to him as his workers—his partners. He stood up, approaching them, and when he came to the realization that they were safe, he let out a collective sigh.

"Who are you?"

Yuuichiro glanced up, seeing in a parallel cell a dark-skinned woman. Around her neck was a tattered red scarf. She was looked at him through her wild dark bangs. What was odd about her was that she had glowing patterns down the right side of her body—the glow could even be seen through the fabric she was wearing. The woman leaned against the bars, clutching them, blinking as she stared curiously at the man across from her. Yuuichiro blinked his own eyes, staring at her; his eyes ran up and down her, drinking her in.

"My name is Dr. Yuuichiro Hikari," he answered as he arched a brow.

"Yuuichiro Hikari?" the woman echoed, a little awe spread across her face. "You're the acclaimed scientist from Jippon."

The scientist stared at her for a while. He was not from this world—he knew that for a fact. No one had glowing marks on their body, nor did items or rooms have glowing material on them. He must have been pulled into the parallel world along with the others. Was there another Yuuichiro Hikari in this world too? There had to be. How else would this woman know who he was? He also figured that Jippon must have been Japan. It had to be.

"Yes, that is me," he answered slowly.

The female then hissed like an angered feline, her eyes narrowed into narrow slits. "Great, they got you too," she said, her upper lip curling.

"Who?"

"The Authorities, man," she answered, throwing one of her hands into the air. "I'm Cindy Hack by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm sorry about how we are coming to meet each other." Cindy glanced down the hall, and reached for the lock on the wall through the parted cell bars. "The other prisoner that was here was gone, and I'm next."

"Where's the guard?" Yuuichiro inquired, gripping the bars to his own cell.

"Bathroom break," Cindy answered. "That means we've got five minutes until he returns." Her fingers pecked at the electronic lock (he noticed that she was missing some of her fingers on one of her hands). It was obvious that she was trying to clear the lock and free herself. "I'll help you too, I promise. I can only imagine what they want with you."

Yuuichiro was silent as his mind frantically raced with the horrible thoughts he had. He just watched the woman as she scratched at the pad with eager and a tad bit of selfishness. Just then, the lock beeped loudly, but the doors did not open. "What does it say?" she asked, unable to see what he could see. Cindy pressed her face to the bars as her eyes strained to see.

The scientist narrowed his eyes at the tiny text that was being printed on the small screen above the key buttons. "It says: '_need fingerprint clearance_,'" he answered, swallowing sharply.

Cindy snorted, and yanked her hand back. "Well, shit," she grumbled, throwing her hands into the air. "I know the code, but don't got the asshole's fingerprints." She stumbled back, and fell to her cot, cradling her head in her hands.

Yuuichiro glanced at her, cocking his head to the side. "Don't worry," he called.

"Don't worry?" she echoed, her eyebrows knitted tightly together. "I should be worrying. I know my fate if I don't get out—I die. I've been on death row for a while, but managed to get out of this hellhole. Looks like they made sure I couldn't get out this time."

The male human winced, looking at the young woman. "Death row?" he whispered, moving his head back to stare at her. "What did you do?"

"Rebel against the Authorities," she answered. "Me and a group of rebels want this corrupt government of ours to fall. God only knows what they've done to Rule."

"Rule? Is she your friend?"

"Yes, a good NetNavi."

"Oh, _your_ NetNavi?"

"Oh, no," Cindy said, giving the man a small, sad smile. She then looked away from him, and to the hard metal floor under her. "My NetNavi is . . . _dead_."

Yuuichiro frowned deeply, looking at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his hands slipping down the slick metal bars.

Cindy glanced up at him, and gave a gentle nod of her head. "Yeah, well, don't worry, I'll get my revenge," she said, gripping her hand into a fist. She then stood up, and looked up at the ceiling. "There's got to be a way out of here. I always found a way out."

The sound of a door opening made Cindy jump nearly out of her skin. She dropped onto her cot, and pretended that she was calm and nonchalant as she turned to rest at her side. Yuuichiro pulled away from the bars, and watched as a large man with a gun strapped to his hip, and he wore a standard police officer uniform. He glanced at the awake scientist and the other still ones. He smirked.

"'Bout time you wake up," he said, taking his seat in his metal chair.

He grabbed his magazine, and started to read it. Yuuichiro turned to look at Cindy, who let out a displeased sigh, and she rolled over to her side, her back facing the scientist. The male human let out a grunt, and took his place on his own cot.

* * *

Searchman and the wolf NetNavi circled each other, neither one of them wanting to attack the other. The wolf snorted and growled. Searchman eyed him, his jaw pressed shut. Just then, the other NetNavi attacked. The soldier NetNavi yelled, firing his gun at the wolf-Navi's shoulder. The NetNavi howled in pain, and hit the ground harshly, sliding across the digital floor. The background cheered, and Searchman jumped back, readying himself for another attack. The "enemy" stood up, staring at the hole in his shoulder, and hissed at him. He then lifted his upper half up, and smashed his arms into the floor.

"Wolf Tremble!" he yelled loudly as he held his claws into the floor to keep his grip, and the ground shook as if it were having an earthquake.

The floor began to shake violently, and Searchman could barely keep his footing. Cracks started to form as it spread across the floor under their feet, and the soldier NetNavi jumped, landing on a large block of untouched floor. Soon, in large crumbles, the floor began to break away. Searchman opened his legs, spreading his weight to keep himself upright. He glanced around, his none rifle hand gripping his gun tightly. The wolf NetNavi was perfectly straight on his large piece of floor. Large stilts of floor were still standing like rocks in invisible pond water. They were speckled out within a leap's distance. The wolf NetNavi leapt from each piece of floor, advancing to Searchman. His long claws slashed out, and the soldier-like NetNavi managed to dodge the full-throttle attack, landing on another still standing piece of floor.

The announcer watched with fascinated eyes as the crowd cheered.

"NetNavi number two seems to be gaining the upper hand in this battle," the announcer NetNavi called into the microphone.

Searchman jumped back, staring at the ravaged second NetNavi. The other program shifted nervously, not obviously wanting to fight with this innocent Navi. He shook his head, and held out his hand. "My friend, please, we can stop this!" he said. "Join together with me, and perhaps we can stop this madness."

The wolf-like NetNavi shifted on his piece of floor like an enraged animal. "It can't be done!" he called. "We fight to the death! There's no hope unless you win."

"But you lose either way," Searchman called. "You'll just be repurposed."

The other Navi scowled, his gaze adverting from the soldier-like NetNavi. His long tail flicked, and he let out a collective sigh. "But being repurposed is better than being dead," he muttered. "I'm not ready to be deleted! I'm so sorry."

The wolf NetNavi leapt up, his claws out, his jaws open. Searchman felt like he was in slow-motion as he watched the other sophisticated program jump his way. He felt guilty for what he was going to do. This was, in fact, a game of survival. It was a totally screwed up tournament of survival and death. Searchman brought up his gun, and cringed as he fired off a single bullet that brought down the second NetNavi's demise. The NetNavi burst into an array of colourful and flashy data particles. The digital atoms looked like a burst of ultra neon coloured smoke as if drifted up and around the Cyberworld.

Searchman paused, his body tense. His breathing calmed down dramatically, but guilt started to sink into his skin and digital heart. The soldier watched as some of what was left of the NetNavi drift by his face and fade away from existence. It was a beautiful sight, but a revolting one at the same time.

There was a cheer from both the NetNavi lackeys and the humans. The announcer pounded his hand against the pedestal, and with his free hand he pointed at Searchman. "And the winner is NetNavi number one! Give him a hand!"

There was a cheer, and Searchman felt sick inside. He stumbled back, and watched as the battle arena healed itself, becoming completely flat and normal like it once was. Two NetNavi guards came out from their little rooms, swords drawn as they approached Searchman. The Sharo NetNavi backed down, casting them a hard glare as they thrust their swords at him.

"Get, move on," one guard hissed. "Back to your cell."

"Go on," the second guard snapped.

Searchman decided that he had to be silent, and play it safe. He backed down, his face completely stoic as he returned to his small cell as the two guards followed directly after him. They shoved him into the small glass cell, and he stood there as the doors closed. He felt a jolt, and he moved downward into utter darkness. Just then, there were the stripes of glowing light that lined the wall as he entered another room. The NetNavi cautiously walked forward, noticing that he was merely in a plain room. There was nowhere to sit and rest. Searchman reached up, and rubbed at his shoulder as he observed the room he had entered. There had to be a way out. He approached a wall and his hand started to feel around against it.

"_Don't even think about it_."

The NetNavi yanked his hand away, and he glanced around frantically. "Who's there?" he called angrily.

The voice did not answer. Searchman was obviously under surveillance. He scowled, and walked to the centre of the small room, and sighed. He had to continue with this horrendous game until further notice.

* * *

"Enzan-_sama_."

Enzan perked up, and glanced at his NetNavi's hologram.

"Yes, Blues," he said, turning back to the paperwork that lay skew on his desk, and started to organize them into a pile. "What is it?"

"It's mail from Netto-_san_," Blues quickly answered.

Enzan sighed deeply, and shook his head. "Listen, Blues, I don't want to deal with him today," he said firmly.

"It says that it is urgent," Blues insisted.

Enzan eyed his NetNavi for a few moments, and then sighed again, reaching up to rub his temples. "Fine, let me read it," he then stated.

Blues nodded, and pulled up the E-mail for his NetOp to read. The letter read:

_Enzan! Enzan!_

_Something's happened at the Science Labs. It's about Papa and Searchman! Someone's taken them and the other scientists! Get over here and we'll tell you the rest._

Enzan froze up a little, staring at the E-mail in utter surprise. He may have viewed Netto as a bumbling fool at times, but he had his strengths. But Dr. Hikari had gone missing? Enzan respected that man trough and trough. And Searchman? Laika's prized and powerful NetNavi was gone too? Blues was silent, but he looked up at his human owner with a questioning look upon his features.

"Enzan-_sama_?" the red-clad NetNavi called. "What now?"

Enzan's finger tapped against his teeth, and he pulled his hand away. "Well, Blues, go to the Hikari residence," he ordered. "Tell them I am on my way."

"Rodger that, Enzan-_sama_."

And with that, the powerful NetNavi linked out.

Enzan reached up, rubbing his temples. First work was being a pain, his father breathed down his neck more than usual, and now this. The dual-haired boy quickly finished up with the unsigned paperwork, and filed them away as he normally did. His hand reached up to comb through his hair, and he quickly stood up, shuffling away from his desk. He reached over to the intercom, pressing a small button, and spoke:

"Yuki-_san_."

"_Yes, Enzan-__**sama**_," said the voice on the other line.

"I've finished with the paperwork, tell my father that. And while you're at it—tell him that I'll be going out."

"_Right away, Enzan-__**sama**_."

Enzan pulled away from the intercom, and left his office.

* * *

Netto rubbed his mother's back soothingly, the woman making small little hiccupping sounds as she started to calm down only slightly. "Don't worry, Mama," he told her softly. "We'll figure something out."

"Yeah, Hikari-san," Yaito said, returning from the kitchen with a glass of water, offering it to the adult female.

Mrs. Hikari reached for the glass, taking it into both of her hands. "I—I hope so," she stammered. "I just can't believe it."

Netto was silent as he glanced down at the equally worried Rockman. Roll was gripping the other NetNavi's arm, looking at him with utter sadness. "Oh, Rock-_kun_," she whispered. "Don't worry. Everything will be safe—we'll figure out something."

Glyde looked at his friend with worry. "One can only imagine what they would want with him," he whispered. "It might be something horrible."

Roll sent the taller NetNavi a look, and Glyde bit his tongue. Iceman wrung his hands, the small Navi had lost his voice. There was a significant silence before there was a loud beeping sound. Everyone turned upward, trying to understand where the sound had originated from. Then, on the table with the other NetNavis' holograms, stood Blues with his stern face. Netto blinked.

"Blues, you've come," he said. "Where's Enzan?"

"He'll be on his way," Blues informed, shifting his weight to his other foot. "He had to finish his work before coming." He glanced over to Rockman at his right. "What is going on? Why have you called us here?"

Rockman said nothing, and Blues glanced up to the sobbing woman with a tiny bit of curiosity.

"We might as well not tell you now," Rockman answered. "We'll just have to re-explain it to Enzan. You might as well wait."

"Will Enzan take long?" Yaito hissed, uncomfortable with the fact that Blues was in the same room as her and her NetNavi.

"I would not think so," Blues said in a monotone voice.

Yaito plopped onto the couch, sending a sour look to the red-clad NetNavi before turning to Mrs. Hikari with a sympathetic look. Glyde turned to Blues, flashing him a simple apologetic look and a shrug of the shoulders before clearing his throat.

There was then a knock, and the group glanced up. Netto looked at his mother, and patted her back. "I'll get it," he whispered to her.

The young boy stood up abruptly, and went to the door, opening it. There stood Enzan with a stoic look across his face, his hands placed into his pockets.

"Hello, Netto," Enzan greeted in a stale voice. "May I come in?"

"Yeah," Netto stated, stepping aside, allowing the other boy into the home.

Enzan stepped inside, looking at the others. "So, care to explain what has been happening?" he asked, feeling the utter sadness fall upon his shoulders.

And when the young dual-haired boy sat down, everything was told to him. It was very unbelievable, but it was the undeniable truth. Enzan looked at the others, his eyes wide in his surprise.

"Is Laika alright?" Enzan asked after a moment of silence.

"I think so," Netto answered. "We're going down to the Science Labs. I just wanted to make sure that Mama is okay." He looked at her, placing his hand over hers. "You are okay, right?"

The mother nodded, and looked at him with a motherly loving expression. "Yes, honey," she answered, placing her hand to his cheek. "But, you should go to the Science Labs now. They must be waiting for you."

"Are you sure, Mama?" he inquired.

"Yes, son, I'm okay."

Netto nodded his head, and gave a gentle pat on her hand. He glanced at his friends, and the semi-shell-socked Enzan. "Well, c'mon," he said, grabbing his PET, placing it on the container of his arm. "Let's see what we can do."

* * *

Searchman sat in his little room, waiting for his fate. Apparently, another game was going on. He could not see anything since there was no screen for him to watch it. However, he could faintly hear the crowds cheering. The soldier-like NetNavi grimaced about what was going on. He could only imagine the duel to the death those two "impure" Navis were having. His mind started to wander. How was Laika? Was he safe? Was he back in his own world worried about him? If so, what was going on? His first guess was that Netto, Rockman, Enzan, and Blues were being called to figure out what was happening.

There was a beeping sound just then that caused Searchman to look up. Overhead was a screen that displayed the NetNavis that were going to fight. It worked down in a pyramid—Searchman was at the bottom. Those who had lost had a large red X going through their icon. The wolf Navi and another Navi that looked vaguely human had lost the game. According to this, he would go in a next few turns. Right now, another pair of unfortunate souls had to fight.

Searchman sighed, his mind reeling. He was to figure a way out without killing these glowing NetNavis. It was one thing to delete an evil Navi, but another to harm a civilian NetNavi. And that was just what he was doing.

His foot pressed against the floor, and he watched as it light up. The light would only faintly subside when he would remove his foot. It was odd, this world. It was down-right scary, this world. He looked up, searching for the camera that was watching him. But to no prevail.

Another beep, and the green-clad NetNavi glanced up, and watched as a red X shown itself on a humanoid NetNavi, and the winner's icon moved upward to show his next opponent. Then two fresh NetNavis would fight, and the cycle would stare over again with Searchman, and the circle of death would continue.

He would just have to fight.

But there was a recess now. The last duo had fought, and only one had won. Apparently a NetNavi called Giga had to run a quick errand.

Searchman snorted.

* * *

Yuuichiro sat on his cot, his hands in his lap. The other scientists had been awake already, and they were, of course, frantic. They were glancing around, trying to get the guard to say anything (to which he snapped at them), and then tried to calm themselves.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Yuuichiro said to them in a calm voice.

"But where are we?" one scientist said frantically.

"I'm not sure, he's not talking," the main scientist said, thumbing at the guard, who in return, glared at him. "But we're safe for now."

A female scientist hand her hands clasped to her breast, and she glanced frantically around. "Where are we?" she whimpered. "I want to go home."

Another scientist started to comfort her, and Yuuichiro sighed. "We'll be okay," he said, turning to see that the guard had now fallen asleep on his desk. From the man's mouth dribbled practically a waterfall that pooled on the metal top. The well-educated man cringed slightly at the sight. His gaze then turned upward, seeing that Cindy Hack girl stand on her cot, reaching for the ceiling, smirking to herself.

"Can't keep me in for long, assholes," she said to herself.

She grabbed the vent cover, her fingers hooking onto the slits, and she yanked down. There, she saw, was a new feature to the ventilation—bars. There were _bars_ inside the opening of the ventilation system. Cindy gapped, continuing to stare upward.

"I don't believe it," she hissed, her eyebrows knitted.

Yuuichiro looked over at her. "What is it, Cindy?" he called.

Cindy glanced back down at him, pointing upward to the open ventilation system. "They barred it," she muttered. "They knew I would go for that. They're getting smart."

A door opened, and Cindy jumped, falling without grace onto her cot. She looked in horror that she was still holding the cover slip of the ventilation gap. She quickly placed it under her pillow, and tried to look nonchalant. There stood a large man with a blue suit with a hologram of a humanoid female NetNavi with a long, gangly body. Along with the suited man were two uniformed men. The obviously high-leveled man looked at the police officer sleeping with a look of disgust.

"Wake up," he snapped, swatting the man over the head.

The police officer immediately awoke, looking at the other man with a surprised look. He soon realized that there was drool on his chin and lips, and he quickly dried his face. "Mr. Authority—Mr. President!" he said, quickly standing up, and saluting the other man.

"Falling asleep on the job, I see," the President muttered.

The police officer was silent, his jaw tightly clamped together.

"Want to lose your job?"

"No."

"Then don't do that again."

"Y-yes, sir," the guard stammered.

The Authority walked over to the cell, and his NetNavi glanced over at Cindy. She smiled devilishly at the dark-skinned woman that sat in her lonely little cell.

"Hello, Cindy," the NetNavi greeted with a snide voice.

Cindy quickly lifted her hand, giving the NetNavi the bird with an equal smirk. "Hello, Giga," she snidely said. "How many souls have you harvested today?"

"Funny, Rule said the same thing," Giga snickered.

Cindy perked up, her eyes growing large.

"Don't worry, she's safe."

The NetOp turned to look at his NetNavi. "Giga, stop fractionizing with the trash of the world," the human Authority said, turning his back to the woman, and looked at Yuuichiro and the other scientists with a greedy look. "Hello, Dr. Hikari. It's nice to see you."

"What do you want?" Yuuichiro demanded, standing up, and glaring at him. "Why did you kidnap us?"

"Well, your doppelganger didn't agree to me, so maybe you will agree with me," the Authority said.

"Doppelganger?" once scientist inquired. "You know about other parallel worlds?"

"Of course," he said snidely. "I have always known. Now, here's the proposal—I see that you have work on the Synchro Chip and the Dimensional Area. Create them for me, and I will let you and your family live."

"You wouldn't!" Yuuichiro cried.

"I would," the Authority said. "I've done it before. Don't think I wouldn't. Now, if you are anything like your counterpart—you live in Densan City? Jippon? But, of course, in your world . . ."

Yuuichiro shivered, and the Authority smirked.

"Am I right?" he asked.

Cindy quickly stood up, her hands gripping the bar of the cell. "Leave them out of this! They are not even part of this world!" she cried desperately.

One guard's baton came across, jabbing her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her lungs. She dropped to her knees, obviously winded, and her hands came across to hold her abdomen. Yuuichiro cringed, looking at her with fear. The Authority turned back to look at the group of scared scientists.

"How about it?" he asked with a smirk. "Want your families to live?"

Cindy hissed like a snake, glaring up at the Authorities. Yuuichiro sighed, his hands slipping down the bars of the cell.

"Yes, sir."

The Authority smirked, and looked to the guards. "Get them and put them into the Basement," he said sternly.

Cindy watched as the scientists get shuffled from their cell, the guards pointing their guns at the scientists, and they moved down the hall. She shivered, her forehead pressing against the bars of her cell. The large man looked at the skinny scarred up female.

"I'll see you and Rule in court," the Authority said.

He walked down the hall, his shoes echoing throughout the hall as the guards trotted after him submissively. Cindy sighed, and sat on the floor, her fingers rubbing against her temples.

* * *

"The Authorities have returned, ladies and gentlemen!" the announced called. "With that all said and done, let's finish this Tournament!"

Searchman, within his little cell, heard the announcer loud and clear. He glanced around, trying to hone in on the outside sounds. That was when the small elevator door opened up. Searchman stared at it for a while, pondering whether or not to go into it. He knew he had no choice, but he decided to test them. It was not long before a guard was sent it, sword drawn. The other NetNavi had come from an unseen compartment that Searchman failed to notice (he normally did notice these type of things).

"Go," snapped the other male Navi.

Searchman glared at the other humanoid Navi. The second NetNavi thrust his sword, making Searchman step back. He could easily fight him, but he had to be careful here. What if whoever these people were had his NetOp? The soldier Navi stepped back, placing himself into the tiny round elevator. He was shot up, and he, again, entered the battle arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Here is the fifth round! Here is the winner of the first battle and the winner of the second fight! Let the battle begin!"

This NetNavi was a tall humanoid with golden glowing markings. His helmet was rounded and his eyes were covered by a thin visor. He moved his arm, and it quickly became a sword. Searchman braced himself, and that was when the second NetNavi moved. He ran quickly (but not as fast as Blues), and jumped up, his sword held up over his head, and he brought it down, ready to slice Searchman in two. The soldier NetNavi quickly dropped to his back, and kicked his leg up, pushing up and away the second NetNavi. That one NetNavi rolled on the round, and moved up to his feet, glaring at the soldier-clad Navi, his sword up, and the palm of his hand pressed against the side of the sword. Searchman stood up, his hand gripping his gun.

The crowd cheered.

The second NetNavi erected his upper torso, and stared at his opponent. He walked, circling Searchman with a stern look in his acid green eyes. Searchman mimicked his movement, his mind spinning out of control. The second Navi moved. He was like a jaguar made out of water, rushing to the Sharo Navi with a loud animalistic screech, and he swung his sword at Searchman like he was a complete savage. Searchman's hand came up, grabbing at the sword. It was cutting into his palm, but his grip was fast on it. The other NetNavi shook his body around, trying to free his weapon from his "enemy." The Sharo NetNavi moved with the opponent, keeping perfect time with him. The blade of the sword dug further into of the web of Searchman's hand. The orange-haired Navi swung his gun at the other Navi's head harshly, and the other complex humanoid program fell forward as Searchman released his grip on the sharp blade.

A happy roar from the crowd.

Searchman held the gun that was on his right hand close to his armored chest. The other NetNavi attacked again, slashing his sword frantically and crazily. He had no idea what he was doing—he was just hoping that he would slash his opponent at some point. Searchman dodged, his hair moving with each movement he made. The sword lashed out, slashing Searchman across his face, and the Sharo NetNavi screeched. He stumbled back, his hand covering his face. He glared at the "enemy," a disgusted look spread across his face and in his eyes. The other Navi hissed, his sword drawn up just under his chin as it was pressed against his palm.

He, again, attacked like a rabid animal, slashing his weapon around angrily. Searchman thrust up his arm, the blade's sword slashing into his arm.

"Stop this madness," the Sharo NetNavi hissed.

"I not ready to be deleted," the other NetNavi rasped out, moving is sword across, knocking away Searchman as if he were just a fly. "I'm sorry. But I'm not ready to be erased from reality."

"We can join together," Searchman pleaded.

"That's can't be done."

"Why not?"

"They failed."

"Who?"

The other NetNavi glanced up, his eyes nearly covered by the shadows of his helmet. "Enough talk, let's fight," he snarled as he attacked yet again.

All of these NetNavis had given up hope or were fighting to save their NetOps, who might be dead or dying. Searchman hated what he was about to do, but it had to be done. As the blade of the sword came out towards him, his humanoid hand reached out, grasping the sword in his hand tightly. Then his knee came up against it, making the thing shatter like glass. In one fluid motion, Searchman then brought up his gun, aiming it at the NetNavi.

For a moment, the world dissolved into slow-motion. The cheers of the deranged crowd in the background faded from his ears, and all that was left was him at his opponent. A sudden realization that his life was over registered in his eyes, and he closed them, waiting for Searchman to deliver the final blow. A single bullet shot across, going for a clean, painless shot in the neck, and soon the NetNavi became a beautiful array of data particles.

Searchman lowered his gun, watching as the data spray float innocently in the air as it slowly disappeared. The crowd cheered, and the Sharo NetNavi hung his head in shame as the crowd cheered. He felt like he wanted to just die. This whole ordeal was wretched. Horrific. Morbid. It was any other adjective he could use to describe this world.

If there was a Hell, this place was the closet to it.


	7. 3 X 3

**Man, it's been forever since I've updated. o.o**

* * *

3 X 3

VI

Cindy fondled the dental floss container in her nimble yet roughed hands. Her short fingernails grazed gently across the skin of her palm, deep in thought, a large lecherous smirk upon her thin lips. She turned around, noticing that her slacker of a guard had fallen asleep in his chair, his jaw open, drool dribbling from his mouth. Cindy eyed him with a disgusted look, and she rolled her eyes at him. She then opened the top of the dental floss container lid, pulling out the strand of thin dental floss.

"Doesn't hurt to try," she whispered to herself.

She had read a story about a man that had used dental floss to cut through the bars of his cell. Cindy was not sure if it would work, but she had nothing to lose. The darkly skinned woman looked around her tiny cell, making sure that her paranoia would cease. She acted much like a scatter-brained bird most of the time (had the Marines done that to her?), but she was intelligent; more so than most thought. She looped the dental floss around the thick bar of her cell, and moved it back and forth.

Cindy had done just that for a while (twenty minutes?), and while she did, the ex-Marine glanced over her shoulders every second. She hissed, letting go of the dental floss in her hands, noticing that the floss had _cut_ into her flesh; like a hot blade in butter. She watched as the red liquid pour from her thin wound like a mini-river.

"Damn," she muttered to herself.

Cindy swallowed thickly, glanced around, and ran her tongue over the wound, coating it in her saliva. She suddenly had the urge to smoke, and she groaned, remembering that they (the guards) had taken it from her, since they knew she liked the cigarettes. She also _really_ wanted a joint. Cindy pounded her foot into the hard ground, glaring from the corner of her eyes at the sleeping guard. He gagged on air, and then trembled before returning to snoring loudly. Cindy exhaled slowly, her eyes scanning over the man before she licked her hand and returned to what she was doing, not caring if she was cutting more into her flesh.

She wondered how Rule was doing.

* * *

After having her slight mental breakdown, Rule's mind ran like crazy, analyzing everything and every possible way to escape, alas, Giga was five steps ahead of her. Rule was like a cat in a small metal cage, her acid glowing eyes darted everywhere, snarling within her mind as her tail flicked from side to side angrily.

"Yo, you Rule?"

Rule whipped around, staring at a slender male Navi in another cell. He was not there before. Had he just been shuffled in? She twitched, her tail swishing to the right of her body. "Yeah, that's meh," she said around a mad snarl. "Who ah yah? Do I know yah?"

"No, you don't," the other Navi said. "But I used the Underground, and I heard about you." He glanced over her. "I heard you killed your NetOp."

"Yep. Whyah askin'?"

"Just wondering." He shivered, his blue glowing eyes looking up and down at her. "W-why so?"

Rule shifted, her arms limp at her side, and she moistened her lips. "Long story," she stated, moving from foot to foot. "Not very fond of explainin' shit. Let's just say that he was reallah goin' ta hurt someone and meh."

The other NetNavi looked over at her, swallowing thickly. "Just curious," he whispered, hanging his head. "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Rule frowned, her eyes darkened. She then let out a deep sigh as her hand gripped his shoulder. "Not if ya continue ta fight," she said, craning her head up to the ceiling. "Like meh. Yah keep fightin' 'til yer last breath."

* * *

Was his hell over or what? That answer came quickly when he was thrown out before the audience, still trapped in the large fighting arena. He glared at the roaring spectators, and if looks could kill, they would all be dead. The tall army-cald NetNavi shuffled along, his body aching as he wanted rest.

"Bring out the viruses!" the announcer stated.

Searchman glanced up, and then glanced down, watching as the parallel wall started to open, showing a long, dark tunnel. There were some snarls, hissing, and jade green eyes stared at him. Soon a creature came out, tall, big (very big), and had a threatening swagger to it. It was dragon-like as it reared its mighty head up regally, glaring down at the Sharo NetNavi as it opened its large wings. The virus roared as loudly as the audience. Searchman swallowed sharply, and started to prepare his body for a long and arduous fight. It moved forward with heavy steps, growling and hissing.

"You won't be hissing for long, ugly," Searchman grumbled, advancing two steps in front of the computer virus.

The dragon-like virus leaned forward, hissing, jade eyes glaring. It then moved. Snapping its strong jaws, the creature hoped that it would snatch up the NetNavi, but Searchman was too fast for it. He jumped back, and started to shoot at the beast. The tiny bullets bounced off the thick hide, and the NetNavi twitched, staring at the colossal creature with surprise. This creature was stronger than he had originally thought.

He would have to wear it down gradually. And it appeared that the skin of the beast was shields that covered a thin layer of skin. Much like an armadillo, it had a protective layer over its body to protect it from real harm.

Searchman then started to run, and the virus followed like a raging animal. It gashed out its sharp claws, cutting deep into the floor. The Sharo NetNavi then whipped around, aiming his arm-gun at the beast, shooting it with in the mouth. It snarled, throwing up its head, and gagged. Searchman jumped onto a claw, and scaled up the thick, almost metallic pelt, shooting his arm-gun in between the openings of each shield-skin, hitting a vulnerable area, causing the virus to screech out in pain. And in the background, the audience roared. The virus thrashed out, its claw reaching out to grab the NetNavi, but to no prevail. Searchman continued to shoot the vulnerable spots, causing the skin to break and data partials spilled out live a river. The virus smashed its body onto the ground, and did it several times, trying to rid of the NetNavi on its body. Searchman clung, and made his way up the neck and onto the head, still clinging to the creature.

"Okay," he breathed to himself.

He knew he had to blind the creature. Searchman readied himself, and he stood up, aiming his weapon at one of the jade eyes, and fired. The virus screamed in agony, and Searchman fell, tumbling on the ground, staring up at the virus, which stood up on its back legs, throwing its body around in utter pain. Serachman smirked as he took several steps back, watching the creature. The virus then stopped, obviously still in pain, glared at the NetNavi with its last eye.

"Wow! The NetNavi shot out the virus' eye!" the announcer called enthusiastically. "What a great idea!"

The audience called out, hooting and calling out, cheering on Searchman. The Sharo NetNavi disgustingly turned up to glare up at them. They were sick, sick bastards, and he wanted to shoot them all.

"You damn bastards," Searchman snarled out.

A roar turned Searchman's head around, staring at the virus that was charging at him, snapping and snarling. Seachman moved out of the way, and the virus circled around, lunging at the NetNavi, and he shot his gun, the bullet hitting the soft under layer of skin. Searchman continued to shoot at the neck, just under the jaw mostly. The creature then moved down, data partials dripped from many holes in its neck. It snarled, jaws still snapping much like a shark's jaws as it tried to snatch up the small NetNavi who refused to back down. He swiftly moved, shooting, wearing down the creature, which was now winded and panting like a thick-furred dog in a hot summer.

He just had to keep it up.

Wear it down. Make it tired.

And he was doing it well.

Searchman smirked, licking his dry lips as he stiffened up, ready for another attack.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Searchman taunted, pounding his foot into the floor. "C'mon!"

The virus turned to the NetNavi, and roared angrily. Searchman had to shoot the other eye out to completely blind the virus—making it completely weakened and it would be completely exposed to Searchman. It yelped, its claw rubbing harshly at its face, its entire body in complete and utter pain. Searchman moved, aiming the barrel of the gun at the creature.

"Alright, aim," he whispered to himself.

The creature stopped in its tracks; eye sockets empty as flecks of brilliant data poured from where the jade eyes used to be. It hissed, growled, and felt around with its claws, slow and precise, searching for the NetNavi.

"Would you look at that!" the announcer called out. "The virus is looking for the NetNavi!"

Searchman was silent—he even kept his breathing steady, making sure that the large virus could not find him as easily. His movements were slow and paced as he inched closer to the thrashing dragon-like program.

"That's right, that's right," he whispered under his paced breath. "Come closer, but not too close."

His gun was steady, and he moved directly under the virus, which was still looking for him. Searchman knew that he had to find the perfect place to shoot the creature, killing it quickly and effectively. Just in the stomach and chest would be perfect.

_Bang_.

A scream filled with agony and shear, raw pain. One bullet in the chest. The virus thrashed, and it fell forward on its arms, resting there, panting. Searchman stepped back, and fired again.

_Bang! Bang!_

_Bang!_

The virus fell forward, data spewing from the body, and it groaned, twitching and hissing. Searchman darted far from the creature, and stood away, looking it over. It was in a lot of pain and anguish as it lay there, panting heavily as its tongue lagged out of its mouth. Searchman advanced a few paces, gun still aimed at the virus. However, it looked as if it would not move again.

_Bang!_

The virus was deleted.

And there was a roar from the audience.

"The winner is the NetNavi!" called the announcer.

Searchman stood there, glaring up at the crowds before he was shuffled away.

* * *

"This is where it went down, we believe," Meijin said sourly, outstretched his arm to the room.

Tables and chairs were turned over, papers were scattered about—it was completely disheveled and looked as if a whirlwind had gone through there. Netto walked through, his hands in his pockets as he moved; eyes darting around the place. Rockman, in hologram form, stood on his NetOps shoulder, his face crinkled with fear.

"Look at this place," the NetNavi whispered lowly.

Yaito walked through, and looked down when her shoe stepped on something that sounded off. The blonde glanced down, and removed her foot, seeing a piece of paper that had explicit formulas and elaborate drawings etched on it. The younger female bent down, picking up the paper, and examined it for a moment.

"This is one of Hikari-_hakase's_ papers," she noted.

"Yes, that is his handwriting," Glyde stated, pointing at the paper. He glanced around as his hand went to his rounded chest. "God, look at this place. They were sure in a hurry."

Yaito was silent as she placed the paper onto a random desk.

Enzan blinked, hands secure in his pockets as his eyes scanned the area. "Damn," he breathed. The dual-haired boy then glanced up, staring at Meijin. "Where is Laika?" Enzan called.

"At the hospital," Meijin answered curtly. "Some were fearful that he suffered from a minor brain concussion, because he hit the floor so hard. So, he's there."

Dekao snorted as his pounded his fist into his open hand. "Man, let's go find them and kick some ass," he snarled, pounding his foot into the floor like a raging bull.

"Yeah, guts," Gutsman promptly agreed, pounding his large fist into his chest.

Just then, everyone stopped where they were at and stared. There was the Cube. It stood there, leering, looming—almost in a mocking way, daring the people before it to find its code to open it once more. Meiru's mouth hung open for a bit, then she moved her hand, pointing at the thing.

"Meijin-_san_, what is this?" she asked, eyebrows high on her forehead.

"Please, no formalities," the man said, approaching her side. "And this is it. The Gate—the Cube. Whatever."

Netto approached it, feeling the cold metal beneath his fingers. "So, this thing took my father?" he asked, turning to the older adult male.

"Yes and no," Meijin answered. "This thing, from what we found out, is a portal. And once you activate it, it will open to the other world that lies beyond it."

Yaito stepped up to the Cube, touching the metal as well. The young female then turned to the oldest male in the room, her face perplexed. "Then, open it up, you did it last time," she said as he hand retracted to her side.

"Well, Netto-kun's father opened it with some scientists. It seemed to be a Rubik's-cube like password that the doctor figured out. It seems that whoever came from the other side made the password more difficult. However, this will not work unless the other one in the Cyberworld works as well."

"There's another?"

"Oh, yes. Plug in your Navis. Maybe one of them can figure its code."

"Right," Netto stated, approaching the computer as did his friends. "In here, right?"

"Correct."

The brunette nodded, and plugged in his NetNavi as did the others. And once the NetNavis entered the computer's comp, they were greeted with the digital cube as it hovered there. Glyde approached it, staring at it with curious eyes as he circled it.

"Wow, this is interesting," the tall NetNavi said. "Extremely complex . . . So fascinating."

Iceman twitched, his eyes glancing over the program. "So, this thing controls the one in the Real World," he said, looking up to the screen that showed Meijin's face.

"Yes, both control each other," Meijin answered. "We found that out rather quickly . . ."

Glyde reached out to tap the Cube, and just like before with the real physical Cube, a small hologram popped up. The brown and gold NetNavi blinked, staring at the projected image with a curious expression.

"What is this?" Glyde inquired.

Rockman approached his tall friend's side, staring at the hologram. "Is this part of the Cube?" he asked, eyebrows knitted.

"Yes, that is the password, after you figure it out," Meijin muttered, his fingers drumming on the table. "Netto-_kun_, your father figured out the password the first time, but when we tried it again, it did not work."

Netto stared up at the older male, confused, and he cocked his head to the side. "You mean . . ." he breathed, eyes narrowed.

"There's more than one password," Enzan answered, staring at the computer screen. "That must be why the first combination did nothing the second time around."

"It must be a way to safeguard itself," Blues stated, reaching out to probe the hologram, and it trembled under his black fingers. "Rubik's Cube was the answer the first time, judging by the colours and such . . ."

Roll and Gutsman joined the group around the Cube, staring at the hologram.

"Then what is the other password," Roll breathed, her hands moving to grip her hips. "If the first password was the combination of Rubik's Cube, what would the other password be? It makes no sense."

"Gutsman's confused, guts," the bumbling NetNavi stated, reaching up with his massive hand to scratch his head.

Yaito blinked, licking her dry lips as her mind raced with so many possibilities. If the first password did not work anymore, then why not try it backwards? The long-haired blonde turned up to her rival, sharing a knowing gaze with each other. He was thinking the same thing—she could see it in his deep ocean blue eyes. The black-and-white haired boy nodded his eyes, and then closed them, opened them, and turned up to Meijin.

"Meijin-_san_, why don't you try the same combination, but backwards," Enzan called, reaching up to push back his hair.

The man in the sunglasses turned to the rich protégé, his mouth closed, but behind his dark lens his eyes widened ever so slightly. "Never thought of that," he said, a smile forming over his thin lips. "Good idea, Enzan."

Yaito twitched, a sour look forming on her face, but she bit her tongue, and snorted. Enzan eyed the smaller person by his side, and his lose hand moved into his pocket, and he reclined into his cool and relaxed pose.

"Yaito thought of it as well," he said, closing his eyes calmly. "Thought I might mention that."

Yaito turned up to stare at him, completely surprised by his actions. But she smiled smugly, and stood tall as her hands moved to cross over her chest, and they folded. "Well, let's try it out," she said with a grin. "Glyde, try it out."

"But, I'm not sure how the first password works," Glyde answered, turning up to look at his NetOp with a meek expression.

"Don't worry, I'll handle that," Meijin stated, turning away from the computer and went to the original Cube, and pulled up the original hologram from there. "Alright, since this cube is connected to the digital cube, it will work either way." With quick fingers, he moved the hologram backwards, putting it in its original position.

But nothing happened.

Meijin blinked, turning to look at the young adults. "Nothing," he whispered, hands dropping to his sides before he hummed deeply in his throat. "Well, it was a good plan . . ."

"Wait a minute," Yaito stated, approaching the man, and stared at the hologram. "This is a three by three Rubik's Cube. We've tried two times, now try four more times."

"Do you think it'll work?"

"Let's try it."


	8. New World

**Oh, hi, guys. Miss me? 8D Well, all I can say is that I missed writing this story. After a few months of not updating, I suddenly had insperation to write this again, and so I did, and I cracked out this chapter and I have more to come! Yay. Anyways, I made major edits in the previous chapters: I fixed missed spelling (I was misspelling Synchro Chip this entire time), some speaking parts, and I thickened Rule's Boston accent greatly. Now, since Boston accents are difficult to write, read, and merely understand, if you have any issues with what Rule is saying, just tell me and I'll be happy to translate at the end of each chapter. Because, trust me, her speech is a bitch to read now. xD And Microsoft Word does not like it at all. Microsoft Word hates Rule. Lol.**

**I may go back and edit more of the previous chapters, so . . . yep. Expect more frequent updates; say once or twice a month.**

* * *

New World

VII

Netto's blood pounded in his ears as he watched the floating giant cube in the Cyberworld shift and switch from left to right. Each column moved as Enzan and Yaito dictated where it should go. Was his father safe? What did these people want? Taking Dimensional Area and Sycnhro Chip intelligence . . . What were they planning? Whatever it was, it could not be good; and that was fact.

"Right. Move the right column," he heard Enzan say.

Rockman glanced up at his NetOp, staring hard at the expression mixed with horror and anger with a gentle stare. "Netto-_kun_," he called gently.

Brown orbs darted down to the hologram form of his NetNavi, and blinked. "Yeah," he said in a low tone.

"It'll be okay," Rockman said. "We'll get Papa back—and the other scientists. Don't worry."

He nodded his head as his hands slipped into his short pockets. "I know," Netto said, and then his head dropped.

Meiru and Roll exchanged glances, and both spoke softly to each other. "Poor Netto-_kun_," the pinkish hair female said to her Navi.

"I know, it must be horrible," Roll responded, ringing her hand as she looked across to Rockman, who was trying to comfort his NetOp. "And those other scientists? What do you think these people want?"

"I'm not so sure," Meiru said, her eyes flickering to Netto, then to Yaito and Enzan as they tried to decipher the Cube, and then back to her dear Navi. "But they took intelligence . . . Powerful stuff. The idea of it makes me shiver."

"I have a bad feeling . . ."

"Me too," Meiru breathed, reaching down to smooth down her skirt against her legs.

"Move the middle column," Yaito said as she tapped her cheek as Glyde stood on her shoulder in hologram form.

The NetNavi did just that. He reached up, and moved the middle column of the Cube.

"And now the other NetSaviors can't be here," Meiru whispered to Roll. "Poor Laika is in the hospital, and we're all that's left."

"I know," Roll said in a distant tone. "Do you think they'll be dangerous?"

"Probably," Meiru muttered, eyes turning back to Netto, who now stood by the computer where it showed the Cube on screen. "If they're brazen enough to break into here and kidnap Hikari-_hakase_ and the other scientists, they're probably very dangerously."

"True."

Dekao pounded his fist into his open hand. "Man, I can't wait to beat the crap outta these guys!" he said, then allowing his hands to drop.

"Yeah, de gustu," Gutsman said in his deep voice, and he pounded his fist into his chest. "Gutsman will beat them all into the ground, de gustu!"

"Damn straight you will," the heavy-set boy said with a wink and a broad smirk.

There were endless clicking sounds as Yaito and Enzan both figured out the box-shaped puzzle within the computer. _Click_. _Click_. A right. A left. Move the upper half and twist it around. It was just a bunch of commands. Netto started to grow impatient. He glanced up to the clock, noticing that only ten minutes had passed, and it seemed like _hours_. Rockman bit his lower lip, chewed on it for a moment, and then released it. His eyes glanced up to his NetOp, and frowned seeing just how worry Netto really was. Meiru also noted that same worry, and rested her hand on his shoulder; giving it a gentle squeeze. He looked at her in surprise, and then his expression softened.

Then, albeit the harsh silence that hung in the atmosphere came Yaito's final command:

"Move the middle ring down."

_Click_.

And there was an explosion of light. The children and their NetNavis let out a strangled, surprised cry as they covered their faces from the said light. It rippled over their bodies, shuttering their clothing and hair. When it was over, there was a low humming sound. Netto's eyes popped open, and he looked on in awe. There—the Gate—it was open! There, beyond there, was another world. Everyone stood there, and Yaito grinned, despite being completely proud and horrified all at once.

"I was right!" she exclaimed. The young blonde then paused, staring at the Gate with an anxious stare. "Now what?"

Meijin blinked, rubbing his eyes from behind the sunglasses he always sported, and frowned. "There it is," he said.

Dekao twitched, exchanged a look with Gutsman, and he walked forward, peering through. On the floor and walls were straight glowing lines that illuminated darkness. He gulped, taking a step back. "The place's rather creepy," he said.

"Yeah, de gustu," agreed his bumbling NetNavi.

"A-are you scared?" Tohru asked, gritting his teeth as he glanced up at the heavy-set boy.

Dekao blinked, staring hard at the little male and then laughed. "Naw! I'm not scared!" he said, pounding his chest as he put on a show of bravado.

"Y-yeah! Me too!" Gutsman said, mimicking his NetOp's motions. "Gutsman's never scared."

Netto rushed forward, pausing at the line of the Gate, and peering into the other world, drinking in his surroundings. It looked empty. They were in a room, so it appeared; just a plain, empty room. "What is this place?" he asked, more to himself than to anyone else.

"I'm not sure," Rockman answered in a low tone.

Enzan and Blues, despite their confusion and excitement, tried to remain calm as they glanced over the dark, dreary atmosphere the room provided. Glyde cleared his throat, and rubbed the back of his neck as he turned to his NetOp.

"Y-Yatio-_sama_," he called meekly.

"Yeah, Glyde?" she replied, her voice soft.

"Remember when I said that life had become rather dull?"

"Yeah . . .?"

"I do believe I jinxed us."

Yaito frowned, her little hands gripping her dress tightly, thinking about what could happen if they were to go through that Gate. Glyde arched an unseen brow, and placed his hands behind his back. "It'll be okay, Yaito-_sama_," he said in a low, gentle tone. "You don't have to be scared."

"I'm not scared, Glyde," she growled, turning to look away from him.

Glyde decided to drop it as he calmly hummed a tune. It was her favorite song; she quickly recognized it. It was the song her father used to sing to her when she was frightened; normally he would come in during a storm and softly sing it to her when she was very little, and when he couldn't anymore, Glyde filled that gap. Glyde had started sing or hum it when her father had to work more and more, and it would be just her Navi and her. She was calmed by it, and showed it by releasing her hold on her dress and straightened her form. She smiled at her Navi as he ceased in his humming.

Enzan snorted, brushing back his hair as his shoved his hands into his pockets. "Meijin-_san_," he called to the older male of the room.

"Yes, Enzan," Meijin said, completely forgetting his common saying when people used formalities.

"Are there any Synchro Chips left?"

"Yes, there are. Five I believe."

"Could you get three of them?"

"For who?"

"Yaito, Tohru, and Dekao, of course."

Nobody showed containment of their surprise as they all whipped around to stare at the dual-died boy with the red jacket and army-print pants. Tohru was the first to speak:

"Synchro Chips, for us?"

"Yes," Enzan answered in a monotone.

"You mean we're going to practice Cross Fusion?" Yaito exclaimed, staring hard at her enemy.

"Yes, it'll just be us, so you might as well learn rather than being useless, am I not correct?" he answered with a sneer.

She shifted, and narrowed her brown eyes at him. Blues turned to his NetOp, leaning closer to his ear. "Enzan-_sama_, is that wise?" he asked, trying to be gentle with his questioning.

"It is our only choice, Blues," he answered in a firm tone. Enzan turned back up to Meijin, and spoke: "Please, Meijin-_san_."

Meijin looked over the boy, and then nodded as he left to retrieve what was left of the Synchro Chips. And when he did leave, Tohru, Yaito, and Dekao crowded around Enzan, determined to fight their case.

"We don't know how to Cross Fuse, Enzan," Tohru said quickly, his hangs hung in the air.

"You'll learn, just like I did, just like Netto did, Meiru, and the others," Enzan said, shifting from one foot to the next.

"Yeah," Netto answered with a beaming grin. "You guys will be just fine."

"We'll help you learn," Meiru said brightly.

However, Yaito, Tohru, and Dekao all exchanged apprehensive looks amongst each other. Tohru wetted his suddenly dry lips, and hung his head, unsure of what to do. Iceman coughed, and rubbed the back of his head, feeling strange and unsure as well. That was when Meijin returned, he held the three of the five surviving Synchro Chips in the palm of his hand, and held them out to the three non-Cross Fusion savvy children.

"Take one," he said.

All three exchanged looks before doing as they were told.

"They didn't work before for me," Dekao stated in a mumble, remembering the time when he tried his hand at Cross Fusion.

Yaito had never tired, nor had Tohru, and they stared at their chips with anxiousness.

"Now, keep them safe always," Meijin said. "And you kids be safe as well."

"Will do," Enzan said, nodding his head curtly. "And Meijin-_san_, when we go through, close the Gate and guard it. I don't care how, but get people on guard to protect this thing."

"I'll go to Kifune if I have to."

"Right."

Netto paused, one foot through the Gate, and his other foot firmly planted on the floor of the real world. He contemplated his moves, and turned back to Meijin. "Meijin-_san_, tell my friends' parents what's going on," he said.

"Will do," he answered. "And be safe."

"We will."

The sunglasses-bearing man did not want the children to go, but he had to. He wished he could have gone with them, but alas he had to stay. Meijin approached the Cube, and when the children were on the other side, he typed something onto the hologram keyboard, and the Gate collapsed. The opening to their world was gone. Hearts—digital and real—beat quickly. After calming themselves, the small group took a glance over their surroundings. It was just a closed in room with one door, which was locked, and no windows.

"How do we get out?" Tohru called, pressing his hands to the only door in the room, which glowed an eerie green.

"It's a mechanical door," Yaito noted. "There has to be a digital key to open it."

"Question is where it is," Meiru mused as she wrung her hands.

"Probably with some brute Navi guard," Roll muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm beginning to think we should have brought Rush to help us . . ."

Enzan glanced around the room like a cat would scope for a rat to hunt. Icy blue eyes flicked up, noticing a camera coloured a bright, glowing red sitting there in the corner of two conjoining walls. A single tiny bulb flicked, and the lens was right on a slender object that had a projection in the shape of an arrow at the top. It sat in the middle of the room, and aimed right at the wall. The fortified room was to protect this thing (it had to be connected to the Cubes back in their world) which caused him to think that the digital version of the thing was also being protected. What was strange was that nobody had been alarmed about the intruders (them). The guards must have been asleep or not paying attention. Either way, the camera had to be disposed of.

"Hikari," Enzan softly called.

The brunette whipped around, and approached his semi-foe. "What?" he asked.

Enzan did not verbally respond, but he pointed upward—directly at the camera. Netto bit his lower lip, and nodded. "Got it," he whispered, aiming his PET at the camera, sending his skilled Navi into the device.

Rockman glanced around once he was inside of the comp. Just like the room his NetOp and his friends were in, it was incredibly dark with lines of glowing colour was his only light. Compared to this, he was dark and unnoticeable. However, he moved, searching for the centre point of the camera. He had found it—it was a flickering circle that hung in the air. Rockman stared at it as it just bobbed innocently up and down.

"Take it out, Rockman," Netto said.

"Rodger."

Forming his Rockbuster, he aimed it at the perfect floating circle, destroying it with only one shot. Outside, the camera's lights and glowing spell died, becoming dark and lifeless.

"Good job," Netto said with a smile as he logged out his NetNavi. "Now we have to get the door open."

Tohru glanced it over, and tapped his fingernail to his teeth. "Can we get into the Cyberworld from here?" he asked.

"Not sure," Dekao mused.

"Search for a log-in point or anything that we can send our Navis into so they can find the key to this door," Enzan quickly answered.

"Got it," Netto said with a grin as he and his friends started to search.

"Do it quickly," Enzan hissed, searching as well. "If the guards that watch the TVs find out that one camera died, we're screwed."

"Relax, I bet they're just sleeping on the job," Netto said, and within his mind, he prayed that he was right.

Tohru winced at the thought of being caught, but he continued his job: look for a log-in point. He glanced around the perfectly linear gleaming walls as their light outlined his slender frame. "Boy, this world is so strange," he said, pausing when he found what he was searching for. "Hey, I found a log-in point."

The group of children crowded around it, staring at it for a moment.

"Yep, that's what we're looking for," Netto said with a wide grin. "Okay, guys, let's go." He took a step back, beaming. "Plug in, Rockman, transmission!"

"Plug in, Roll, transmission!" Meiru said, pointing her PET to the control.

"Plug in, Glyde, transmission!" Yaito called, following Meiru's motions.

"Plug in, Blues, transmission," Enzan said calmly, gently aiming his PET at the control.

"Plug in, Gutsman, transmission!" Dekao said with a broad smirk as he did so.

"Plug in, Iceman, transmission!" Tohru said, last to send his Navi into the comp.

And once they were inside, the other NetNavis that had not experienced this world's Cyberworld froze, and glanced around. Roll, mouth agape, glanced around. Spheres that hung in the air radiated with lines of bright colour, as did the floors and the walls. The "sky" was dark, and it would be hard to see if these lines of light would not have been here to guide them—it was as black as night. Iceman glanced at the floor, and pressed his heel there, watching the lined lights flash brighter in colour, and then return to its normal condition when he lifted his heel.

"What a strange world," Glyde mused, pressing his hand to a wall and watched as the colour intensified beneath his palm.

"Tell me about it," Iceman said, stumbling back as he whipped his head around.

"The Cyberworld is mimicking bioluminescence, I believe," Glyde said, retracting his hand as he stared at his palm.

"Biolumin-what?" Netto asked, arching a brow as he stared at the rich NetNavi.

"Bioluminescence," Yaito corrected with the roll of her eyes, "it is a chemical reaction that emits light. It is most common in insects, bottom-dwelling marine fish, and certain algae."

"Ooooh," Netto breathed, nodding his head.

"I think it's rather pretty," Roll said with a small smile. "Everything's glowing like Christmas lights. It's rather pretty."

"Yeah, I guess it is, Roll-_chan_," Rockman said with a slight chuckle.

She whirled around, and beamed brightly at him. While Gutsman poked at the glowing floor with a fat digit, Blues walked along, scanning his surroundings with interest and wonder. He remained completely stoic-faced, but he was intrigued by this Cyberworld. His head lifted up as his eyes drank in the strange and alluring vibe this world gave off. Nevertheless, they had to find a key to open the door for the humans.

"Let's move," Blues said with a gruff tone. "We don't have much time. You can admire this later." He walked along, his long silver hair swishing from side to side as he did so.

Iceman paused, arching a brow as he frowned. "Gosh, can't he ever smile," he muttered, walking along to follow the other NetNavis.

Glyde blinked his vibrate red eyes; his hand dropping to his sides as the other NetNavis followed Blues. He was soon to trail after them, but he paused, feeling a strange sense of a pair of eyes on him, and he glanced behind him as he scoped the area. Faintly, he could hear something breathing shallowly. That was breathing, right? Or was that just his imagination getting the best of him? That made sense: he was in a strange place in a strange world, it would make sense that he was probably scared and he was just hearing things. However, he could have sworn that he had heard something in the distance. He was silent as his red eyes glanced around as they flicked to lighting up, and he continued to search the area.

"Hey, Glyde!"

The tall NetNavi turned back to his friends, who had now paused in their walking.

"Let's go," Rockman called as he waved his hand.

A screen flickered on, showing Yaito's face as she peered at her NetNavi. "Something wrong, Glyde?" she asked, swallowing a lump in her throat.

Glyde blinked, and then he turned to look behind him once more, and then he looked up to his NetOp. "Nothing, I'm fine, Yaito-_sama_," he said, and jogged to catch up with the rest of the NetNavis.

But Glyde's paranoia was not completely wrong. In the background, a dark figure snuck about, watching the intruders with empty eyes. Knowing what it had to do, it retreated into a small portal, and whisked itself away back to where it belonged to warn its master.


	9. Quest for the Key

Quest for the Key

VIII

"And the winner is Searchman!"

There were loud roars of cheering as the military NetNavi stood emptily in the arena. His breathing was heavy, as well as his heart. He felt like the purest scum on the earth by competing in this competition. However, it was not entirely his fault . . . but still, he felt wretched. Searchman squirmed uncomfortably as he felt the eyes of all on him.

* * *

"I like this one," Giga said, peering down at the arena from her spot. "I like this one very much."

Around her were servants—NetNavis that would only serve her. Not only where the Navi servants with her, but her darling pets. There were five or so pets with her, and each surrounded her, hoping that they would get petted by her soft hand. One of the hellhounds that were currently getting her attention was just like the rest—an armored, horned monstrosity with a scarf tightened around the neck. However, each hellhound was coloured differently. One was a shade of purple, another was a shade of pink, another blue, another green, and the one she was giving attention to was red—and all glowed. A slender forked tail twitched as Giga stroked his thick, armored neck, and he purred.

Program chuckled, running his chin with his hand. "I know what you're thinking, Authority Giga," he said, scratching the head of one hellhound. "You want him, don't you?"

"Of course. He'll be perfect for the cause."

"Will he agree?"

"Well, we'll find out. Now, won't we?"

Through a portal came a large, slender-bodied grey hellhound and it trotted obediently at Giga's side. He huffed at her, a tail flicking, and she peered down at him. Giga turned to the hellhound, and smiled fondly at him.

"Oh, hey, baby," Giga said, reaching across to stroke the grey dog-program. "How's my boy?"

It grunted, moving its head from right to left and pawed at her hand. Giga arched a brow, staring at the creature with a look of interest.

"What's the matter?"

He moaned, leaning down with his chest and lower jaw pressed to the floor. He then got up, moved his head to the right again, and looked at her. Giga blinked, realization dawned upon her as she nodded her head slowly up and down.

"I see," she muttered, rubbing her chin with her hand. Giga turned to Program, and spoke: "Program, I believe that we have some intruders in our complex."

Program blinked from behind his visor, and rested against his chair. "Really?" he asked, turning to the hellhound who was now panting. The creature looked like a normal pet, even though it was completely hellish to look upon.

The hellhound nodded, and barked. Both Program and Giga exchanged looks, and the female Navi turned to one of her troops, and ordered: "Go search the area. If you find anyone, arrest them for trespassing."

A soldier NetNavi saluted her, and he commanded his troops as they left to do their job. Giga swallowed thickly, and turned back to the arena, staring hard at the multi-coloured NetNavi with orange hair and the sniper arm.

"Bring him to me," Giga ordered. "I would love to talk to him."

"Of course . . ."

* * *

The comp was a large one—floating platforms were connected by simply designed steps that formed a staircase. The whole atmosphere was mimicked by minimalism practice and thought. Large square objects stuck up from the floor, and hanging spheres sat nestled in the "sky." Things had not gotten any brighter—all was dark. It strained the NetNavis' eyes, but they soon grew used to it.

Blues scoped the area, searching for anyone that could and would attack them. His sword was unsheathed, ready to kill. Rockman had his Rockbuster ready as well, and the others were prepared too. NetOps were ready to slot BattleChips into their PETs, feeling the need to slot in a chip if necessary. Blues moved to another large block, and hid behind it. He peered around, and when it was clear, he motioned for the others to follow, to which they did. Everyone was silent—biting their breath to keep perfectly silent. Blues, like always, was the first to move. He zipped from block to block, hiding, pausing, calling for the others to follow, and moving on.

That was when they came across another portal. It sat in the middle of the floor, pulsating with cold blue light, and they entered it. On the other side, the NetNavis paused, grew deathly silent as they stared hard at the sleeping Navi guard. He was sleeping in a chair, his legs on a desk, and as everything in this world, he had glowing markings upon his body, which were glowing white. Another guard was on the couch, also asleep. A screen hung in the air, showing the sleeping human guards in the TV room—obviously not paying attention to the televisions in front of them.

"No wonder nobody noticed us when we destroyed the camera," Rockman whispered.

"I told you," Netto said to Enzan with a grin spreading across his face. "They're asleep on the job."

"We lucked out," Enzan said with a calm voice. "Does the guard have the key, Blues?"

The silver-haired NetNavi moved closer to the guard, being careful as a mouse would walk past a sleeping cat. He peered over, noticing the key clicked to a belt the Navi had around his waist. "Yes, Enzan-_sama_," he said in a low tone.

"Then get it," he said. "Be careful . . ."

The atmosphere grew tense as Blues reached forward, being oh so careful as he tried to grab the key from its hook on the belt. Behind him, Rockman and his friends were ready to attack if the guards were to come to life. The Navi guard snorted, and everyone grew ridged, freezing in their spot. The guard then returned to snoring, and everyone let out their breaths.

"That one was a close one," Netto said, whipping his brow.

"Sssh," Yatio hissed, pressing a finger to her lip.

Netto pressed his lips together, and Blues resumed to retrieving the key from the belt. His nimble black hand tugged gently at it, and the pad of his thumb pressed on the switch, and the key was released from its hold on the belt. Blue pulled his hand away, and carefully stepped back. The guards—both human and NetNavi—had not stirred.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Good job, Blues," Enzan said with a small smile.

"Thank you, Enzan-_sama_," he said, nodding his head only once.

"Now all we have to do now is find Searchman, right?" Iceman asked in a whisper.

Netto slapped himself in the forehead. "Oh, shit, forgot about him," he grumbled, and his palm rubbed against his cranium.

"Where would he be?" Roll asked, her hands pressed to her chest.

"Isn't he being held prisoner here?" Glyde inquired.

"I think so," Rockman replied.

"Then we must find him at once!"

A snort, and the Navis and human grew silent as the NetNavi on the couch stirred. He turned to his stomach, his arm flopping onto the floor, and he continued to snore. Glyde bit his lip, and hung his head, feeling a tad guilty that he had raised his voice.

"Sorry," he whispered.

Yatio shook her head and waved down her hand. "It doesn't matter," she stated. "We just have to find him. Can't we search the system?"

"Even if we do and we find him, he'll still be locked away in his prison cell," Blues stated. "But we may have a chance if the guards there are also just as sloppy." He motioned his head to the sleeping guards. "If so, we can get him out."

Unbeknownst to them, the Navi guard on the couch stirred. Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinked them several times, and focused on the Navis that were talking to each other and the screens that showed their NetOps' faces. For a moment, he thought they were guards as well, until he noticed that they were not wearing uniforms, and that they did not have a glowing pattern to them.

"Hey!" he shouted.

They jumped, turning to see the guard who quickly got to his feet. "You're not guards!" he shouted, a buster forming quickly onto his arm. "Who the hell are you?"

Rockman, quickest to react, fired his buster, hitting the guard straight in the knee, causing him to collapse on the other Navi guard, knocking him out of the chair and smashed into the table, and that made the human ones awaken from their slumber.

"Get outta there, guys!" Netto screamed.

"No need to tell us!" Rockman shouted as he and his friends ran from the room.

The NetNavi guards quickly got up, and the human guards suddenly became alert.

"What's going on?" one human shouted to the Navis.

"Intruders!" one replied—he was the Navi Rockman had shot at. He used the table to help himself stand, and he leaned fully against it.

That was when a group of NetNavi guards burst into the room. The main one, a red clad Navi with smoldering eyes and a white glow to him, glanced around, seeing the injured NetNavi and the other NetNavi standing up to properly salute.

"What happened?" the red Navi asked forcefully.

"Intruders," a human said.

"That way," the hurt Navi said, pointing to the portal.

The red NetNavi moved like a cheetah, and his guards followed like good little lackeys. Meanwhile, Rockman and his friends ran as if they were on fire or something. Netto smashed his hand on the door, growling.

"Damn it, I can't believe they had to wake up!" he shouted.

"Hurry, guys, unlock the door," Tohru called.

"We're trying to hurry!" Iceman yelled.

Without a second thought, Glyde scooped up the smaller NetNavi, and ran as he carried Iceman along. The little Eskimo NetNavi clutched to Glyde's shoulder, making sure that his grip never slacked. Once they reached the door, Blues quickly placed the key into the slot. Rockman practically materialized at his side, his body shaking.

"Hurry, Blues!" he shouted as Roll collided with him.

"I _am_, Rockman!" Blues shouted back.

The silver-haired NetNavi turned the key, and in the real world, the door unlocked with a loud _click_.

"Plug out, Rockman," Netto said, returning his Navi into his PET.

His friends did the same as Enzan opened the door, pushing it open wide and they exited the room.

"They they are!" a voice shouted.

The group of children turned up, seeing a mob of humans with glowing chip-like markings etched across their bodies. The glow of their markings was so strong that it pierced through the clothing. The guards cocked their guns, pointing it at the children.

"Surrender to us," one said loudly.

"Fat chance!" Netto shouted to them.

"Don't move," the first one said. "Surrender to us and we will not hurt you."

Dekao growled like a lion as Yaito clung to Meiru's arm. Tohru was ridged as a statue as Netto and Enzan stood in front of them, both sending off icy glares to the guards. The heavy-set boy turned to the frightened Meiru and Yaito, and stepped in front of them.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," he said in a rough voice.

"Surrender to us now," the guard repeated.

"Enzan, what should we do?" Netto growled lowly to Enzan.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Enzan hissed back. He turned his head, noticing the open window down at the end of the hallway. He blinked, and moved his head to face the guards once more. "There's an open window at the end of the hallway—we jump out."

"Are you crazy?" Netto snapped.

"Want to be locked up instead?"

Netto swallowed thickly, and tried to calm his racing mind. Enzan was right—it was their only way. In a moment of tense silence, a loud voice rang out:

"RUN!"

Netto belted; Enzan to follow, then Tohru, Dekao, Meiru, and Yaito. The guards reacted in the only way they knew how: they fired their weapons. The loudness of the banging echoed throughout the hallway's walls, making the loud noises even more louder, if that were even possible. Bullets grazed florescent walls, floors, a random hanging light, and Yaito's leg. She screamed in agony as she collapsed to the floor, clutching her bleeding leg tightly. Meiru paused, glancing behind to notice the little braided-haired blonde sprawled on the floor, and she gasped.

"Yaito-_chan_!" she yelled, rushing to fetch her, only to be shot at as well.

Glyde appeared in his hologram form, staring hard at the profusely bleeding bullet wound in her leg. "Yaito-_sama_, are you alright?" he asked hurriedly.

"I got shot, how would you be?" she snapped the question, her eyes on the verge of forming tears.

There was nothing he could do nor could the others do anything. They had all paused, and all looked petrified and scared. Glyde bit his lower lip, staring at his NetOp, deciding that he would not leave her (he could never leave her). She glanced up at him, her face scared, but both knew what had to be done.

"Go!" Yaito screamed.

"Are you stupid?" Enzan shouted, advancing to her, only to be fired at—the bullet grazing his shirt's sleeve.

"We're not leaving you two!" Meiru said, tears streaming down her face as Roll appeared on her shoulder.

"You must!" Glyde shouted as guards surrounded his NetOp and him. "Now go, run! Run!"

The other guards moved to the children, shouting and yelling at the small group, who (regrettably) threw themselves out the large, open window. Landing on the hard surface of a slated roof, the children slid down the surface as if it were a slide at a playground or something. Once they reached the end, they collapsed to the ground. Enzan clutched his shoulder, feeling a sharp ache as he stood up. He glanced up to where they once were—the third story—and saw the guards peering out as well. They were shouting at each other in a strange tongue, and probably calling for back-up.

"Keep going," Enzan said, helping Meiru to her feet as he rushed to the tall barred fence that kept them enclosed, and behind it a chain-linked fence, and behind that was another series of chain-linked fences. About five or so, and all were locked.

Netto, searching for an exit point, noticed an electronic lock not too far from where they were. "Look! A lock!" he shouted, rushing to it, and slammed against it.

Dekao pulled his PET from the safety of his container, and flung it out. "Gutsman and I will handle this!" he shouted, sending his thickly-built NetNavi into the comp of the lock.

After a few long, painstakingly slow seconds, the lock flashed a bright red, and it opened. Tohru pushed open the metal gate, and the process was repeated to the many layers of fences that came in their way. After they were all open, they all ran. Netto felt like shit leaving Yaito behind, and he felt even worse as he noticed Meiru sobbing her eyes out; Roll as well. Enzan was not feeling all that good either—his heart was beating in his breast, his palms were sweating profusely, and his hair pressed against his cheeks. Had had left Yaito back there! He felt like such an ass!

"We'll get her back," Netto said to his friends. "I promise!"

Just then, out of nowhere, bullets came flying at them. Screaming, they fell to the ground, covering their heads. Blues flickered into a hologram, noticing that in the shadows of the building were a pair of towers, and each had a sentry up at the top.

"Sentries!" Blues shouted, pointing at the towers in the background.

Enzan shivered, glanced up to the thick wilderness of towering trees and thick foliage. He stood up, and ran. "Run! Run!" he shouted, rushing into the woods.

Netto blinked, got to his feet, and rushed to Meiru. "C'mon!" he yelled, grabbing her arm, pulling at her arm to get her to stand.

Tohru got to his feet, and banished into the bushes. Dekao stood up as well, grabbing Meiru's other hand, and both males tugged her along. The group ran into the woods, allowing the shadows to engulf them, and the sentries stopped firing.

* * *

Yaito clutched her leg with one hand, and held her PET to her chest, never slacking in her fast grip. Glyde was staring up at the guards, his red eyes fierce and unwavering. One of the guards dropped his gun to his side, staring down at her with a certain smug look on his face. They spoke to each other, and it was in some language she had never heard. It just made her all the more scared.

"Glyde," she squealed out, pressing the PET to her chest tighter.

"It'll be okay," he told her in a smooth, gentle tone. "I'll be here. I won't leave you."

"I-I-I'm scared."

"I—I know," he said. Glyde would not admit that he was horrified as well; he had to remain calm and on top of his game. If he remained calm, she would feel safe.

A hand grabbed her roughly by her braids, and she screamed as she was yanked back. Another hand wretched away the PET from her grip, taking away the only thing she had left.

"No!" she yelled as a guard held her tightly in his arms. "Glyde!"

"Yaito-_sama_!" Glyde screamed. "Yaito-_sama_!"

"Glyde!"

The guard kept her from struggling, and the guard that had her PET firmly in his grip, and both walked down the hallway, Yatio screaming and thrashing about.

* * *

"No," Searchman growled.

Program and Giga exchanged looks, and Program shrugged. Searchman was crouched before them, thick chains around, and two guards held him down. His eyes glanced between all of the scary-looking six-legged dogs. Giga was stroking one of the pets lovingly, and stared hard at the orange-haired man before her.

"Consider it," she said.

"No, the answer is no," Searchman snapped. "I refuse to join you."

"You will live . . ."

"I rather die."

Giga arched her brow, and snorted. "What is it with these people and wanting to die for what they believe in," she asked Program.

"I'm not sure," he answered, stroking his little beard. "But if he wants to die, he can die."

"No, no, he's a good fighter," Giga stated, leaning against her chair. "I want him."

Searchman shivered, looking away from her stare. "The answer is no," he said. "I don't care if I die or not. I will never join you."

Program huffed, scratching his cheek. "Wow, stupidity is full-range," he muttered, his hand dropping into his lap as his staff rested against his shoulder.

Giga moistened her lips, pressing her knuckles to her chin, and continued to stare at Searchman. "Take him away—lock him away until further notice," she said, waving down her hand.

Searchman glared as several large guards grabbed him roughly, and dragged him away. He was completely silent as he was being taken to a prison cell—he only breathed laboriously and his stare was firm. Giga sighed, stroking a hellhound that had his head in her lap.

"Just as foolish as Rule," Giga murmured.

A guard burst into the room, paused before them, and saluted both of the Authority's NetNavis.

"Authority Giga, Authority Program," he began, "the people who were in here escaped. They also destroyed the Portal's camera."

Giga and Program twitched in anger. "What?" Giga hissed, her upper lip curling into a scowl. "Who was in charge with security?"

The red-clad guard tilted his head, and called: "Bring them in here."

A hurt NetNavi and another guard Navi came into the room. The injured Navi walked with a slight limp as data particles swirled from his wound. Two screens with human faces also appeared, and all bowed before the Authorities.

"What happened?" Program sneered. "How could you not notice them?"

They did not speak, and they refused to meet their stares. Giga's foot trembled as it tapped on the floor as she glared at them.

"You were asleep on the job, weren't you?"

They did not speak.

"You morons!" she shouted, causing her beloved pets to stir. "How could you fall _asleep_ on the job? You have such an easy one at that! And you get paid well!"

"We're sorry!" the injured Navi cried.

"I don't give a fuck! You're fired!"

And by "fired" she meant that they would be torn apart by her little pets.

"Author—"

"No, get them out of here!" Giga screamed loudly.

The loyal guards grabbed the two NetNavis, and in the real world, two human guards grabbed the other guards, and they were whisked away. Two of her hellhounds followed after the Navis, and both were giddy rip apart these guards that had failed in their jobs. Giga slumped in her chair, and rubbed her temples.

"Those morons," she muttered.

"There, there, Authority Giga," Program said with a gentle tone. "We'll find new ones."

"Um, Authorities," the red-clad NetNavi said.

"And those intruders most likely came from the other world. I thought that the back-up code would keep it safe."

"Apparently not," Program muttered.

"Authorities," the red-clad called.

Both Authorities turned the red NetNavi, who then cleared his throat. "But, we got two hostages," he said. "A girl and her NetNavi."

Giga grinned. "Really?" she asked, stroking her chin.

"Yes, send him in."

Two Navi guards gripped a struggling Glyde as he dug his heels into the ground, and try to break from their grip, but to no prevail. One Navi smashed his fist into Glyde's gut, which rendered him breathless. The guards threw him to the floor, and he hovered there, trying to catch his breath. One guard pressed the sole of his shoe against the shoulder of Glyde, and pushed him down.

"You bow before the Authorities," the guard hissed.

"Don't touch me, you filthy scum," Glyde growled, using his hand to push away the guard. "Where is my NetOp? Where is my Yaito?"

"You want your NetOp?" the guard taunted. He snapped his fingers, and a screen popped up, showing Yaito's reddened face.

She glanced to her NetNavi, and her brow eyes widened. "Glyde!" she called, struggling against the hold of the guards.

"Yaito-_sama_!" he yelled back. He turned to the Authorities, begging in his eyes. "Please, let my NetOp go, please, I beg of you." Glyde threw himself down, bowing until his helmet touched the floor. "You can have me, but don't hurt her. She's just a child!"

"Glyde!" Yaito yelled, more fearful for her Navi more than herself.

"Begging, are we?" Giga said around a yawn. "How sweet. Tell me, um . . . Glyde, is it?"

Glyde's face cringed, and his hand rubbed at his chin, sniffling.

"Well, we'll let her go, only if you'll work for us," Giga said.

"He'll never work for you!" Yaito said. "You're the ones who took Searchman and Hikari-_hakase_, aren't you?"

"Oh, so you are from their world," Program said.

Glyde's red eyes finally took notice to the six-legged virus-like creatures that sat around the two thrones, and how their eyes were upon him. He swallowed thickly, shifting his gaze to stare at Giga and Program.

"Yes, we are from there," Glyde stated. "Now let my NetOp go. She's just a child."

"Glyde, shut up," Yaito whimpered, tears brimming her eyes.

Giga and Program exchanged looks, and grinned. Giga then turned back to Glyde, and crossed her legs as she continued to stroke her pet. "You will both be useful to us," she said. "Wouldn't you agree, Program?"

"I can see the usefulness of the Navi, but the girl?"

"She's small—she can clean out artillery shells. I bet she's got the hands for it. I mean, look how young she is."

Yaito shivered, and Glyde's jaw went slack.

"Don't use my NetOp as your slave!" Glyde spat.

"Too late," Program said, waving his hand. "Take them away."

Guards grabbed Glyde forcibly, and yanked him along. "Yaito-sama!" he shouted, trying to release himself from their grip.

"Gly—"

Yaito's screen banished from view as Glyde was being pulled into darkness.

* * *

After an hour of being locked in a car without being able to talk or move, Glyde was thrown into a cell, colliding into a wall as he whipped around, glaring heatedly. The NetNavi guard chuckled as they locked the door.

"Sleep well, buddy," a guard said, disappearing from view.

Glyde gripped the bars, glaring. He could feel the anger build in his body as he trembled. "What did you do to my NetOp!" he screamed loudly.

Nobody answered.

Glyde pulled back, and kicked his heel into the bars, and the glowing lines on them brightened on the moment of contact, and he stumbled back, getting his footing. "Where is she?" he hollered, his voice growing hoarse. "What did you do to her?" He kicked the bars several times before he collapsed onto the floor, panting.

"Ah, stop yer shoutin'," a feminine voice called. "They en't gunna do nothin' fer ya."

Glyde quickly stood up, and realized that he was not alone in this cell. Glowing acid green eyes stared at the tall brown NetNavi. A slender cat-tail flicked from side to side as an orange-glowing and blue-clad NetNavi stood at the other side of the jail cell. Glyde was not sure if she was dangerous or not, so Glyde swallowed thickly, staring at the female NetNavi that was roughly his size.

"So," the female said, leaning in towards the taller NetNavi, "what did they git ya fah?"

Glyde looked at her, wide-eyed before blinking. "I'm not sure," he breathed.

The female snorted, scowling. "I figuhed," she muttered, shifting her hips as she crossed her arms over her flat chest. "Damn Authohities—think dat they rule the roost. Takin' people offa stheet fah nothin'."

Soft pastel red hair swayed as she moved. Her tail swished back and forth like an aggravated cat, and she moistened her lips. Glyde had a difficult time with what she was saying—she spoke so fast and her accent was thick. He recognized it as an Amerope accent—Boston, to be more accurate. Glyde cleared his throat, and went back to the bars, gripping them. The female Navi arched her brow, staring at the strange NetNavi.

"Ya have no mahkin's," she said. "Ya a sthange Navi. What's ya name?"

Glyde turned around, arching a brow as he continued to grip the bars. "I'm Glyde," he answered, muttering.

"I'm Rule . . ."


	10. Number 98AB67CZ1

**Hey, it's been a while since I updated this. Anyways, I'm sorry if any of you have a hard time understanding what Rule'll be saying. xD Bawston accents a' tough like dat.**

* * *

Number 98AB67CZ1

IX

Yaito was thrown like a rag doll into a cell, and the woman, who was already in it, sat up, staring hard at the little girl. The blonde whined, clutching her leg as she glared daggers at the guards.

"You bastards!" she shouted. "Give me my Navi!"

The other female jumped to the girl's side, staring hard at the wound. "What happened to you?" she asked.

Yaito quickly backed away, staring at the woman with fear and anxiousness. The tanned woman smiled gently, trying to not look very threatening. "Hey, don'tcha worry, I'm a good person," she said.

Yaito looked at her right hand, noticing that she had lost a few fingers, scars adorned her body, and her fingertips were bleeding with tiny cuts. She wore a scarf, and glowing markings tattooed her body, just like what the guards had. Did everyone glow in some way here? And what she had noticed, each person and NetNavi had a different glowing pattern—unique like a fingerprint. The blonde swallowed, cupping her bullet wound with her palm as she shivered.

"You w-won't hurt me?" she asked.

"No," the woman said. "I'm Cindy Hack, by the way." The tanned woman moved closer, staring at the wound. "Let me look at it. What's your name?"

"I'm Yaito," the blonde responded. "Aren't police supposed to remove bullets from people they arrest?"

"They are, but these assholes don't do that," Cindy muttered, pushing up Yaito's dress to stare at the circle wound, which poured out blood like a it were a volcano spitting out lava. "My, it's deep in there."

"And it hurts," Yaito whispered. "Those guys took my Navi—they took Glyde."

Cindy looked up, frowning at the girl. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"What is this place?"

"The Jail—an hour away from the city. Where are you from?"

"I—it's hard to believe if I told you," Yaito stated, turning away from Cindy.

"Okay, then," Cindy said, pulling at the skin, and Yaito hissed.

"Ow! That hurts!" the braided-blonde snapped.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Cindy said. She placed Yaito's leg down, and moved to her flat coat, reached under the mattress, and pulled out an eyebrow-plucking device. She placed two fingers between the holes of the beauty product, and cleaned it with her scarf. "I'll get it out."

"With that?" Yaito yelped, squirming in her skin.

"Yep."

"Have you done this before?"

"Nope. Always a first for everything."

Cindy moved back to Yaito, and gently grabbed her leg. Carefully, she pushed the tip into the hole, and Yaito whimpered, gripping her dress in pain. She pulled the scissor-like object apart, and the tip felt the bullet, and tried to grab it. However, for the last five minutes, Cindy removed the cylinder-shaped bullet, and she placed it into Yaito's palm. The blonde blinked, staring at the object that was once in her leg with a sense of surreal attitude.

"Sorry that took so long," Cindy said with a grin.

The blonde shivered at the unsettling kind grin that was on the tanned woman's face. "And it hurt," Yaito muttered under her breath as she turned her hand over, the bullet fell from her palm, and it hit the floor, bouncing a few time before it rolled away into a corner.

"Sorry."

"Yeah . . ."

"Worried for your Navi?"

"Yeah . . ."

Cindy sighed, placing a hand to her shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I know how you feel," she said, standing up, and started to clean the blood from the small object. "Nothing's worse than knowing someone you love isn't by your side . . ."

Yaito glanced at her, and then back at the wound, watching as a river of blood came pouring down. That was when Cindy returned. She had a long piece of brown cloth, and she started to wrap it around Yaito's leg like a makeshift band-aid. Two safety pins were pressed between both of her lips as her eyes were completely focused on what she was doing. Cindy then proceeded to use the safety pins to hold the cloth together.

"There, all done," Cindy said brightly. "C'mon, let's wash your hands." She stood up, and motioned to the sink.

After helping Yaito up, the young girl washed her hands, and Cindy exchanged dirty looks with the night watchman. He snorted, and turned back to his magazine, which was most likely filled with naked women. The tanned woman licked her lips, and flopped on her cot as Yaito joined her.

"Thank you," Yaito whispered.

Cindy smiled, and nuzzled into the thin mattress. Yaito glanced around, noticing the few empty and non-empty cells. The ones that were filled had a sleeping person or two in it. She wondered if this was where Hikari-_hakase_ and the others were taken. Was Searchman here too? If so, were they safe? And what of her Glyde—was he okay or was he worrying about her as well?

"Where ya from, kid?"

Yaito turned to stare at the woman laying next to her. Her arm was thrown across her stomach, and her other arm draped over the cot.

"Densan," she answered.

"Oh? Is it far from here?"

"Very far."

"Where are your parents?"

Yaito didn't know how to answer that, but she tired: "My mom's dead, and my father has no idea where I am."

"You're a runaway?"

"In a way, I suppose."

Cindy shifted so that she would lie on her side. "Ya should have never done that, kid," she said around a groan. "Ya should've stayed home."

"Yeah, I know," Yaito grumbled. She felt around in her pocket, and felt the Synchro Chip that was assigned to her. She swallowed sharply. "I'm scared. I wish Glyde was here . . ."

Cindy sat up, staring down at the little girl. "Hey, it'll be alright," she whispered, even though she knew in her heart that it wouldn't. She was a little girl, and she knew what happened to little girls. "I bet your Glyde is fine, and he's worried about you."

"I know he is . . ."

"Why don't you get some rest, eh?" Cindy said, clasping her hand on Yaito's shoulder and motioned to the other cot.

Yaito stared at it and gagged. It was nothing like her massive, comfortable bed back at home, which she adored and loved. She hated being a prisoner. She wanted Glyde.

* * *

Rule stared at the new Navi with utter interest in her acid green eyes. Glyde could feel her piercing stare at the back of his head, and he turned to her, staring back. She was leaning against the wall, arms still crossed over her chest, and her tail twitched from side to side. There was a moment of silence as they just looked at each other—Rule was just looking over his body. She looked at his face, his neck, chest, stomach, then to the insides of his right wrist, and then back at his red eyes. He felt strange under her stare—it was like she was trying to place something about him. She then spoke:

"So, wheeyah from?"

Glyde blinked, and he rubbed at his chin. "Where am I from?" he asked, making sure that he understood her.

"Yeah, dat what I said: wheeyah from?"

Glyde swallowed, unsure as to how to answer that. Rule cocked her head to the side.

"Whatahya doin'? Ya fahget wheeyah come from?"

Glyde stared at her. What the _hell_ did she just say? She spoke with a quick tongue, and her words seemed to combine with each other, creating all new words together.

"I'm sorry, Rule-_san_, but I have no idea what you're saying," Glyde stated, feeling quite strange telling somebody that.

Rule blinked, and then she laughed. "Ya en't the only one!" she laughed. "I said, whear do ya live?"

"Um, I'm a foreigner," he said quickly, unsure of telling her the truth (well, the full truth; he _was_ a foreigner).

"Ah," Rule said simply. "The police en't supposed ta touch ya. Ya must've done somethin'."

Glyde decided not to answer that.

"Dat mean ya en't got a numba."

He turned to her. "Excuse me?" he asked, staring hard at her.

Rule raised her right wrist, and printed on there, glowing orange, appeared to be a serial number. It read: 98AB67CZ1. He stared at it, for a while, and then her hand dropped to her side.

"Every one hea has one," she said with an acid tone in her voice. "It's ta keep thack of ya. Humans and Navis all have 'em."

Serial numbers etched onto their bodies to track them? It was chilling. To Glyde, the entire country in this world felt like a prison and they were all ruled by a Machiavellian dictator. Were all the countries like that in this world? Speaking of countries: what country was he in? He couldn't just ask her—it would seem suspicious. A foreigner not knowing what country he was in; wouldn't that seem strange? Despite that, he wanted to see his NetOp. He was going mad worrying about her. The tall brown and gold Navi stood up, resting his hands on the bars, and peered about.

"Worried 'bout yer NetOp?"

A look of understanding was etched across her face, and he nodded sullenly.

"Yes," he answered, resting his head on the bars of his cage. "I need to know if she is safe."

"Well, they en't gunna tell ya nothin'."

"She's just a little girl . . ."

That was when Rule became stiff. Her body became like a statue, every strand of her long hair frizzed, her eyes became saucers, and her jaw went slack. She approached him from her side of the cell, and grabbed his hand in a comforting manner, as if to calm and soothe him.

"Glyde, how old is ya NetOp?" she asked slowly.

The tone of her voice had changed. It had become laced with fear and worry. Glyde swallowed thickly, staring down at her as she had a gentle grip on his large hand.

"E-eleven," he answered, his voice trembling.

"Oh, Gawd," she breathed.

"W-what? I—one of the authorities said that she would be good for cleaning artillery shells," he said, his voice becoming panicked.

"Which Authohity," Rule said in a biting tone.

"The female one."

"Giga," Rule growled. "Dat bitch. Gawd, I hate her. She always makes life a livin' hell."

Glyde gripped her slender hands in his own tightly, and Rule turned up to look at him. His face was filled with fear as he stared at her. "Please," he whispered. "I don't want her to be an s-slave." He hated that he had said that ugly word when he referred to his NetOp. "P-please tell me that will be all that they'll make her do. Right? They won't make her do anything else . . . right?"

Rule was deathly silent, and she turned her gaze from his piercing one. After a few moments, she looked back up at him with a stare filled with strong pity. That was all Glyde needed to go into a full-on panic. What else were they going to do to her? He had heard some horror stories—sex slavery and the kidnapping of children for it; or stealing NetNavis to sell them for their programming and what not. But he was always concerned for his NetOp. As her NetNavi, he felt that it was his duty to look after her. And he had failed. Glyde pulled his hands from Rule, and his body shook.

"N-n-no," he stammered out. "I—this can't h-happen. No! She's my NetOp! She's j-just a child!" Glyde pressed his back to the wall, trying to contain his erratic breathing as he slipped to the floor.

"Glyde, Glyde," Rule called, approaching his side and placed a gentle arm around his broad shoulders. He stiffened in surprise; this woman was giving him comfort and she barely knew him. She obviously didn't fear about showing her affections. "It'll be okay."

"Okay? _Okay_?" he shouted, his eyes wild and his face tense. "That is my NetOp!"

"I know, I know," she said in a soothing voice. Rule took his hand again, and rubbed the pad of her thumb against the crook of his hand. "I'll help ya."

"H-how?" Glyde asked. "How can you help me?"

"I got fhiends on the ountside," she stated. "I always told 'em that if me and Cindy don't break ount in two days, they'll come fer us."

Glyde quickly assumed that Cindy was Rule's NetOp. His hand rubbed at his face, caressing for a moment, and to hide his on-coming tears. "Authorities—doesn't that mean that they are the government, right?" he asked.

"Yes, the Phesident is the rula, and he has two Navis—the female is Giga and the male one is Phogham—and all of 'em ah called the Authohities. They are the government in hea."

"G-government is supposed to protect people against this."

"Things ah backwahds hea. It has been fer the last twenty years."

Glyde rubbed at his eyes as they started to sting. Rule had not left his side, and he could hear her gently breathing as she continued to rub at his free hand.

"She's family," Glyde said after a moment or so. "Yaito-_sama_ is my family. I can't let this happen to her. I promised that I would protect her."

Rule was silent, but gave a few gentle nods as he spoke.

"When h-her mother died and her f-father had to work, she was alone. I used to be her father's Navi, but I soon became hers so I could keep an eye on her. I was told to always w-watch over her and protect her. I failed."

Rule stared at him, her hand still gripping his.

"I wouldn't say dat," she said, her tail swishing from side to side.

"What?" he whispered, turning to look at her.

"Has she eva gotten in trouble like dis befoh?"

"N-no."

"Then ya did a good job."

He blinked slowly, staring hard at her as her words slowly sunk in. Their hands had not let go of each other, and to Glyde, it was comforting. He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes to dry his tears. Rule remained silent, and allowed him to regain his composure. Sighing deeply, he turned back to her, and asked:

"So you will help me?"

"O' course. I help people—dat's what I do."

"So, why are you in here then?"

Rule frowned sternly, and looked away. "I killed my NetOp," she answered bluntly.

Glyde quickly pulled his hand away from her slender, orange-glowing, blue-clad hands, and looked at her with a face mixed with surprise and disgust. Rule scoffed, reaching up to play absentmindedly with a lock of hair.

"Well, ya asked."

"You killed your NetOp," he said around a growl.

"Look, he was a bad person. He was the type dat would . . . Let's jist say dat if he were anywhear else, he would be in jail fah life withount parole."

Glyde looked at her face, seeing the truth behind her eyes and he shifted uncomfortably. "What did he do?" he asked gently.

Her face flashed into several emotions: pain, anger, fear, and disgust. Snorting, she glared up at the ceiling as she tilted her head back. "Some horrible things; I don't wanna talk 'bout it," she muttered, her slender fingers roughly combing through her mass of pastel red hair.

_Maybe I don't want to know_, Glyde thought, coming to the conclusion that whatever it was, it was bad. He still felt uneasy that he was sharing a cell with a human-killer (it also killed the idea that Cindy was her NetOp—so maybe this Cindy was just a human friend). She stood up, patted the top of his head, and went to the centre of the cell, glancing around. Tapping her foot, she muttered to herself as she scratched her chin. Glyde watched her for a moment, and then sighed. He rested his arms on his knees, pondering about the safety of his NetOp. Chills rushed over his body as he reflected upon those wretched ideas that ran through his head.

"Dis is rahtahded!"

He looked up, and Rule kicked the wall opposite of her with seething anger.

"They fohtified dis place betta than befoh."

Glyde blinked, cocking his head to the side. "You've been here before?" he asked.

Rule's tail twitched in her irritation, and she nodded. "Dat's right," she answered. "Ya wanna gidadahea, right?"

Glyde paused for a moment as he tried to evaluate what she had just said. Sighing, Rule shook her head, and repeated: "Ya wanna leave, right?"

"Of course."

"Okay. What is today?"

"Tuesday."

"Tuesdiz? Shit. Couht's tomorrow."

"And . . . is that good or bad?"

Rule paused, and then a smirk stretched across her face. "A good thing if we use it right," she said, licking her lips and rubbing her hands together.

He stared unblinkingly at her. Rule glanced over to the guard that had fallen asleep on the job, and smirked. She returned to his side, crouching right near him as she leaned over, placing her mouth against his ear.

"Hea's the plan . . ."


	11. Man at Night

Man at Night

X

They had kept running—keeping minimal verbal contact until they hid deep within the forest and they were out of sight of the building they were at previously. An hour had passed before they decided to stop and rest. The shadows of pitch-black night shrouded the children, who were now crowded around each other, panting and catching their breath. They could hardly see each other—all that they could make of each other was the eerie outlines cast by the moon and stars, and of the soft glow of their Navis' holograms. Enzan erected himself to full height, and rubbed at his chin.

"Is everyone alright?" he called.

"Yeah," Dekao breathed, slipping until he sat upon the ground.

Netto swallowed a lump in his throat, and stood up, wincing his eyes at the darkness to see his friends. "We're safe," he said.

"Not Yaito-_chan_ and Glyde," Meiru called, clutching at her chest. "We have to go back."

"Well, duh!" Netto said loudly. "But we can't now!"

"It'll be too well-guarded now that everyone knows that we escaped," Enzan stated, rubbing at his wrist.

"So what do we do?" Roll asked, her hands pressed to her chest. "We can't just leave them there. We have to go back."

"But Enzan's right, Roll," Tohru said. "If we go back, we're dead for sure."

"But what about Yaito-_chan_ and Glyde?" Meiru snapped back. "So we should leave them to die?"

"Hell no, Meiru-chan," Dekao said, standing out and he puffed out his chest. "We'll go back . . . And we'll get Searchman and the scientists too!"

"Damn straight we will!" Netto yelled, throwing his hand into the air. "Those bastards should have never kidnapped them because we'll give them hell."

"But we need help," Rockman said. "We can't do this alone."

"And who will help us?" Blues asked dryly. "I don't know about you, but I highly doubt anyone would want to help us. Something like this is too risky."

Meiru shifted from foot to foot, and turned to her PET, realizing just how late it was. "Guys, we've been out here for two hours now, running and hiding," she said slowly.

"What time is it?" Tohru asked.

"Twelve."

"Twelve?" Netto called, looking up to the stars. "We should get some sleep."

"But not out here," Rockman said. "It might be dangerous. We have no idea what this world is like."

"We already got a taste of it," Iceman said.

"Do you think anyone will help us, de gustu?" Gutsman asked, scratching his head.

"I don't know," Enzan said. "But we should stay away from the city." His gazed moved to the silhouetted buildings in the far background. "We might be wanted people now. We should stay away from people."

"And what? Live like wolves in the woods?"

It did not take long until the group realized that the voice was not of their own. They whipped around, and in the darkness was a tall, strongly built being. Like the guards, chip-sequenced like markings were etched down his face, neck, and over his right arm, and they glowed bright purple. Despite that, it was difficult to see him. The darkness made it hard to see, but all knew that he could be dangerous.

"What do you want?" Netto snapped, his hands becoming fists.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," the man with the deep voice said.

"Yeah, right," Dekao hissed.

"I bet that's what you tell all your victims," Meiru growled.

"Look, I heard everything you guys said," he said. "I'm sorry for your friend."

Everyone grew deathly silent.

"I have two friends in there," the man said as he moved forward, his tall body blocking out the moon's rays. "I came to break them out. But the sentries are all out and what not. Did you guys do all this?"

"Yeah, sorry," Netto stated, rubbing at the back of his head. "Who are your friends?"

"Rule and Cindy Hack," he answered. "Listen, if you guys come with me, we can help you."

"Why should we come with you?" Enzan said sternly. "We don't know who you are."

"I know, but I can help you," the man said. "You want help, right? Well, I can help you. You want your friends back, right?"

In the darkness, the group exchanged glances as best they could. The man was silent, but they could hear his shifting from foot to foot. There were also some sounds of rustling, and a beam of bright light hit them, causing them to wince at the bright light. It was a flashlight, and the group could see the man more clearly now. He was darkly skinned with dark brown hair and a stocky build with a green tight sleeve-less shirt and white pants accompanied with brown and purple boots. His jaw was straight and strong, and his neck and chest was full and thick. Beauty marks dotted his arm and face. He smiled gently at them.

"Th' name's Addam Jefferson," he said. "Ex-Marine of the United States Marine Corps. It is a pleasure to meet you. And your names?"

The group exchanged looks and they nodded, deciding that the man would do them no harm. And with that in mind, they introduced themselves. Addam nodded his head, and a free hand slipped into his pant pocket.

"Well, let's go," he said. "We have to be quite. Animals are out here at night, so let's go." Addam walked along, albeit slowly so that the others could follow him easier.

"So, what's up with this place? They just started shooting at us," Netto said.

"Any reason why the guards would shoot?" Addam asked. "Did you do something to anger them?"

"Um . . ."

He turned to his friends, not quite sure what to say to him. Enzan shook his head, not wanting Netto to tell anything to the man about what they had gone though and where they were from.

"We're not sure," Enzan quickly said. "We're not sure what angered him."

Addam turned to look at the children, and paused by some tall oak trees with thick shrubbery. "You're not from around here, are you kids?"

"Nope," Dekao stated quickly.

"We're foreigners," Tohru added.

"And you came here?" Addam said, arching a brow. Light was casted over his face made him look creepier than if he were under normal light. "Pfft, you should have stayed where you came from. You would have been a lot safer."

The children were silent, and they glanced between each other.

"It's not safe here," Addam said.

"What's wrong here?" Enzan pressed.

Addam glanced around, and motioned his hand. "C'mon, let's talk when we're in our hiding place," the man stated. He moved along, stepping over a fallen log, and looked back at them. "C'mon, let's move on! I bet you're hungry and tired."

Rockman glanced to his NetOp, and shrugged his shoulders. The group moved along, following the bulky man with the flashlight. Tohru and Netto, simply because they were not paying attention, tripped over a large raised root. The group stopped, and Meiru rushed to her friends.

"Are you okay?" she asked both of them, and she placed her hands to Netto's shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, watch out for roots and whatnot," Addams said with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. You okay, kids?"

"Yeah," Netto grumbled, standing up and dusting off his shorts as Meiru's hand rested upon his shoulder.

She then turned to Tohru, and helped him up. The boy looked down at his clothing, staring at the dirt and leaves stuck to his fabric. "I suppose," he said, brushing his hand down his clothing to remove the dirt and leaves.

Iceman chuckled softly at his NetOp's blunder, and Tohru sent him a playful glare. Addam laughed lightly, and motioned his head. "We're almost there, come on," he said, jumping over a tree stump.

"We almost there?" Dekao called, placing his hand to his stomach. "I'm hungry."

"Gutsman tired, de gustu," the large NetNavi mumbled. "Gutsman wanna sleep."

"We're almost there," Addam stated, sliding down a slight dip, and moved along the thicket and brush. "C'mon, let's keep a move on."

"We're coming," Netto said, falling down the slope with a little yelp.

Enzan confidently slid down the slope, and glanced down at Netto, who was quickly standing up and brushed off his clothing. The dual-haired boy shook his head, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked along. The brunette snorted, and continued to dust off his body and clothing.

"You okay, Netto-kun?" Rockman asked.

"I'm fine," he answered, and jogged to follow the two ahead of him.

Dekao, Tohru, and Meiru followed suit. They slid down the hill, and followed after the man with the flashlight. After a few minutes, the forest cleared, just a little, and in the distance was the much closer city. It was bright and alive, and those said lights created a bubble of multiple colours that spread up and outward. Addam rushed over to a cleared piece of land covered with thick grass and flowers. It was a serene scene that gave the group a calming feeling. The moon's rays shown down upon the world, and it created a gentle glow of pale white light. It looked like something from a fairytale.

"What a lovely place," Meiru said.

"The glow is so beautiful," Roll remarked.

Addam pressed his foot against the grassy ground, and swept it across as if he was feeling for something. When he stopped, he crouched down, and his hand felt around. His thick fingers grabbed something, and he yanked it upward. It was a handle that was connected to a hinged door that he pulled upward. It was an underground hideout.

"Go in, it's safe," he said with a smile.

Enzan glanced down, seeing a staircase that descended into darkness. Along the walls that sat on either side of the staircase was a streamline of pale blue light that led on into the said darkness. Enzan looked at his NetOp, who shrugged his shoulders. Enzan went down into the staircase, and was engulfed in darkness and pale blue light. Netto was next, as was Meiru, Tohru, and Dekao. Addam was last, and he closed and locked the padlock on the door. He checked the lock, and as soon as he came to the realization that it was locked, and he moved down the steps.

There, at the end of the long hallway, was another door. Addam maneuvered around the group of children, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a set of keys. But before he used them, he placed his hand on a pad on the door, and it scanned his palm. After he finished, he punched some numbers on keypad, and then used the keys to fully open the door. He pushed the door open, and he nodded his head to the opening.

"You go first," he said.

They went through, only to be greeted by another hallway. Addam closed and locked the thick metal door, and led the group onward.

"Where are we going?" Netto called, arching a brow.

"To the centre of the Earth," Dekao laughed.

Addam laughed along, and turned to look at the group. "I know, it's rather deep," he said. "But we're almost there. C'mon."

Addam jogged into the darkness, only thing that highlighted his frame was the cold blue light along the walls and the purple markings on his arm and neck. The hallway was warm, and the group was getting hot very quickly. Enzan rubbed at his neck, feeling sweet bead on his forehead. Blues looked up to his NetOp, and frowned.

"Enzan-_sama_," Blues called.

"_Hai_, Blues?" Enzan answered back.

"Are you okay? You seem tense."

Enzan stared at his Navi, and then sighed deeply as his hands retreated into his pockets. "I'm . . . okay," he stated.

"You're worried about Yaito, aren't you?"

Enzan frowned, turning to look away from his NetNavi. "Yes," he answered.

Blues was silent, and then nodded his head. And of course, there was Searchman, Hikari-_hakase_, and the other scientists that were captured and locked away somewhere. They had to figure out where they were at and if they were safe.

"Okay, here we are," Addam called as he opened up the last door, and he pushed it open.

The children entered the room, and glanced around. The place's interior was shabby. A couch sat against a wall, which was torn and had makeshift stitched patterns on the surface. There were some of the cushions that were cut open, and the stuffing inside of it poked out. A table sat in the middle of the room, and it was covered with guns, bullets, knives, and—oddly enough—magazines. A computer sat against a wall opposite of the door, and it was off. PETs sat in their holsters, which were connected to the computer, and they were charging. The NetNavis in the PETs were obviously asleep. Addam closed and locked the door, and turned to the group.

"Um, yes, this is the home," he said.

"Looks more like a hideout," Enzan remarked.

"Well, it is," Addam said, shrugging his shoulders.

"From who?" Meiru said slowly.

"Them," Addam replied callously as he pointed upward.

Tohru's eyes were hard on the weapons on the coffee table, and Addam moved his hand across, placing it on the barrel of a shotgun, and he grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry, it is okay," he said in a soothing tone.

Tohru swallowed sharply, and moved over to a chair, sitting down. Iceman looked to his NetOp, and shrugged his shoulders. Enzan stepped across, arching a brow to Addam.

"Who is 'them'?" the boy with the camouflaged pants asked.

"The government," Addam stated, flopping down on the couch. He took hold of a gun, and looked it over.

"Government?" Netto echoed.

"You were in a government building, Sector 8," Addam started. "They were the ones who kidnapped your friends."

"Why?" Meiru asked, sitting down in a chair.

"Well, only you know the answer to that," Addam stated, licking his dry lips.

The group exchanged glanced with each other, and Dekao rubbed at his neck, feeling strange. "Guess you're right," the heavy-set boy stated.

"But what's the reason you're against your own government?" Enzan inquired.

Addam ran his hand down the slick barrel of the shotgun he held, and placed it upon his lap. "They are evil," he said in a growl.

"How evil is evil?" Rockman asked, placing his hands to his hips.

"Well, let me list: there is no food regulation. They put dangerous chemicals in our food that can cause cancer and many illnesses. We work for very little money and pay large amounts of taxes while people for the government don't pay for anything! They use children in the foster care system as slaves; they use homeless women and men as either guinea pigs for testing shit on them or selling them for sexual slavery or wait for them to die so they can harvest their organs. And homeless—or any captured—Navis they will take and either do two things: take the NetNavis apart to sell the expensive programs that are written in them or use them as unwilling participates in a fight to the death matches in the Coliseum. They stripped us of all our rights almost and made us the hard workers barely getting by as they spend our hard-earned money on either prostitutes or around-the-world trips or whatever can be used to their own greed. They used soldiers to do their dirty deeds, and that is why Cindy and I left the Marine Corps. Most people can't even go to a doctor because they're so poor, and in the city, three or four families live in two-room apartments or even smaller than that. Need me to continue?"

The group of children was deathly silent as Addam finished speaking. Meiru held a hand to her mouth, and Roll followed her movements. Enzan and Blues were completely silent as were Netto and Enzan. Tohru gripped his shorts tightly, and Iceman was completely stiff. Dekao was slack-jawed, and Gutsman was like Iceman—stiff.

"Oh my God," Meiru whispered, her hand hovering at her mouth.

"H-how could they do that?" Roll asked, her voice shaking.

"They are pure evil," Addam said. "They don't care about anyone or anything other than money. And we plan to overrule them."

"Who is 'we'?" Enzan asked, his brows knitted as his fists clenched.

"We are The Children of Justice," Addam said. "We are a large, elite group that want to rebel against the Authorities and their government. We had enough of their shit, and we want to have a rebellion against them." He lifted a fist up, and then brought it down in a strong motion. "We have been building up arms and constructing underground ways— also called The Underground—to connect human and Navi alike to everyone who is part of The Children of Justice. This is the home base, The Home of the Free. We have meetings here to either collect more people to rebel, to get food, weaponry, and whatnot. We plan as how to overrule them."

"And you are the leader?" Netto asked.

"One of them, yes, but Cindy is the main leader."

"And she's the one who's locked up?" Rockman inquired.

"Yes. She started this. I might get a giant group of people to bail her and Rule out, that is if she doesn't get out by herself in a matter of a day or so." Addam paused, and rubbed his chin. "I should get a group ready to invade the Jail . . . I can do that soon."

"And is Rule a NetNavi?" Roll then asked.

"Yes," Addam answered. "She's one of the leaders of The Children of Justice. She's a strong NetNavi, and Giga—an Authority—wants her dead. They've had a rivalry for a long, long time . . ."

"How many authorities are there?" Blues called.

"Three—the President and his two NetNavis: Program and Giga."

"He had two NetNavis?" Tohru said in a startled tone.

"Yep, they're brother and sister, but that's enough of that," Addam said as he waved down his hand. "You have to be careful of them—especially Giga's hellhounds."

"H-hellhounds?" Iceman asked, not liking the term already.

"Yep, stay away from them, Navis," Addam warned with a deep fear in his voice. "Beware the bite of the hellhound as well."

"W-why, de gustu?" Gutsman asked, shifting.

"You will become a hellhound as well," Addam stated. "All those hellhounds were once Navis as well . . ."

"_Nani_?" Netto said loudly.

"I'm not lying," Addam stated. "If you see a hellhound, run. Don't stand and fight. Just run."

"What do they look like?" Blues demanded.

"Slender bodied, six-legged, and very dog-like," Addam explained quickly. "Can't really miss them."

"Is there any way to change them back?" Roll asked, her hands at her midsection.

Addam was silent, and then he hung his head. "No, there is no way," he whispered, running his hand at the butt of the shotgun.

His reaction was strange—it was as if someone he knew had suffered the fate of being turned into a hellhound. Was it his NetNavi? Or a NetNavi friend? He then smiled, and stood up. "I'm being a horrible guest," he said, placing his gun down. "You want some food? Drink?"

"Yeah," Dekao said, but his tone was down-beat and sad.

"Yes, please," Meiru stated.

"Okay, then," Addam said with a smile, and he walked by them and into the small kitchen behind them.

Netto watched him go, and let out the deep sigh he was holding in. "Wow, this world's messed up," he said, leaning his arms against his legs.

"What he was saying was truly disturbing," Meiru said in a low tone. "I could never think that a government could do that."

"It happens, it's just that most don't hear about it," Enzan said, his tone dampened.

"W-what do you think could happen to Glyde and Yaito—Hikari-_hakase_ and the other scientists, and Searchman?" Iceman stammered out. "Do you think th-they'll be safe?"

"Oh, God, I hope so," Roll said, placing her hands together. "Oh, God . . ."

"Don't worry, Roll-_chan_, we'll save them," Rockman stated. "I bet they're just fine."

Roll looked up at the blue-clad Navi, and she sniffled, drying the droplets of tears forming under her eyes and rolled on her cheeks. He frowned sternly, and rubbed at his wrists; feeling the aching need to go over there and hug her. Netto turned up to stare at Enzan, and asked:

"Are we going to help them?"

"You mean, join the rebellion?" Enzan asked, arching his brow.

"Yes, Addam and the others need help, and they can help us," Netto said.

"So you want us to join them with guns and shooting government individuals?" Tohru asked, vigorously pointing at the guns on the table.

"Well—I dunno," he responded honestly.

That was when Addam returned to the room with cups tightly held with his fat fingers. "Here we are," he said, handing each person a cup. "Sorry that not all the cups match, but here's some iced water. Sorry I have nothing else."

"That's fine, thank you," Meiru said, taking the cup into both of her hands.

"If you want anything else, just ask. But we don't have much . . ."

"That's fine," Tohru said, taking a sip of the water. He paused, rolling the liquid around in his mouth. It tasted strange.

"Do you have anywhere to stay for the night?" Addam asked.

"No," Enzan answered.

"They're some spare rooms in the back," Addam said, pointing towards the back where everyone turned to see an open door. "There are some beds there. You can sleep there."

Netto nodded his head slowly, holding his cup between his hands. "Yes, thank you, Addam-_san_," he said.

Addam shook his head, smiling. "No problem, and no need for formalities," he said, leaning against the chair, and crossed his legs. "I'm just Addam to ya'll."

"Okay, then," Netto stated, offering the large, bulky man a smile. He sounded like Meijin-_san_ for a moment there.

Meiru glanced around the underground room, and turned back the doors Addam had pointed to prior. The two out of the three doors were closed, and the one that Addam had offered was open. The two doors that were closed has snoring coming from behind it. She stared at it for a moment, and turned back to Addam. She got the feeling that they would be staying here for a long time.


	12. Children of Justice

**Seeing as so few people read this (well, _review_; plenty read this), updates will be even longer. I've seemed to find Transfromers (for now) more interesting. I know I will return.**

* * *

Children of Justice

XI

"So, Mr. President, what should we do?" Program asked curtly. "The other world had sent more people through the Gate."

The President rubbed at his chin, staring hard at the bright green Navi with a tight-lipped mouth. "Interesting, they cracked the code," he said. "I suppose that the password was not difficult enough."

"Apparently not," Giga responded. "But what should we do, Mr. President. I get the feeling that they may send more people over. If they do, we might go to war with them."

"After all, we do have their most prized scientists," Program said nonchalantly.

"Besides, how is he doing?"

"He is creating replicas of the Synchro Chips and he and his scientists are also duplicating the Dimensional Areas," Giga informed with a smirk. "Everything is going according as planned."

"Excellent," the President stated, arching his fingers. He turned back to Giga. "So, Giga, what do you propose to do with this situation?"

"I saw we round up some troops and storm them," Giga answered.

"No, that's not a good idea," Program said quickly. "We should be on the offensive. When they do come, we can attack."

Giga turned to him, her eyes narrowed until they were slits. "Authority Program, please understand," she said in a low tone, "we can't roll over and take it. We should attack them now!" She punched her palm rigorously.

"But we attack in their world, a world we barely know anything about," Program reasoned. "We can't do that. If anything, they should come into our world so we can attack them in our world."

Giga sharply turned to her NetOp, her face like a rock, and her eyes narrowed. "Mr. President," she began, "what do you think?"

He rubbed at his chin, staring both at them with hardened eyes. "Both of you have good pointers," he said. "Both of you are right."

"But which one is more correct, Mr. President," Program said coolly.

He sat in his chair, thinking deeply for a moment, and then he spoke: "I will combine what both of you suggested, but Program has the right idea."

Program smirked at Giga, who frowned sternly. The purple glowing Navi crossed her long arms over her flat chest, and snorted. "Okay, then," she said. Her eyes turned to the window, seeing the morning sun rise peak above the mountains in the background. "Today is Tuesday, isn't it?"

"Yes," Program stated, rolling his staff between his palms. "Why?"

"Today is Rule's court date," Giga answered with a diabolic grin.

"Ahhh," the green Navi said with a knowing smirk. "I bet you're happy for that bit of knowledge."

"Of course," Giga responded with a little nod of her head. "She'll be found guilty and be sentenced to death." Her slender form moved as she shifted to look to nowhere in particular. "Her little group will fall apart when she dies. After all, she started it."

* * *

Netto snored loudly as he clutched his pillow to his face; his face wet with drool as was his pillow. He shared a bed with Enzan, as Dekao slept in the same bed with Tohru, and Meiru slept alone. Rockman's hologram flickered on, and he yawned, rubbing at his eyes to wake up as best as he could. He blinked, staring hard at his NetOp as he slept. He frowned, staring at the pool of spit before rolling his eyes. The small NetNavi's hologram went to the PETs that were resting on a round table that sat in the centre of the small room.

"Roll?" he called in a whisper.

Her hologram flickered on, and she looked sleepy—as if she had just woken up or tired that she could not find rest. "Hi, Rockman-_kun_," she greeted softly.

"How are you?" Rockman asked.

"Fine," she said in a worried voice.

Rockman cocked his head at her, staring at her face. "I know you're worried," he said in a low tone. He reached over to grip her arm. "It'll be okay."

She looked at her friend, and nodded. "I know," Roll whispered. "We'll get them back, r-right?"

"Of course," he responded quickly.

"The question is how."

Both Navis turned to see Blues' hologram popped up. His arms were crossed firmly over his chest, and his hair swished back and forth as he shifted. Behind his visor, his eyes were narrowed into slits.

"Blues?" Rockman said.

The red-clad NetNavi approached the two Navis that were already out. "We're probably wanted people because one: we were in a secretive complex, two: we're with possibly wanted people, and three: we are from the other world to them—our world."

"And they're probably searching for us, right?" Roll asked in a whisper.

"Probably," Blues responded in a monotone. "Right now, we have to get Searchman, the scientists, Yaito-_san_ and Glyde, and get back home. After that, we must destroy the Cube—Gate. Whatever it's called so they can't get us when we leave."

"But how are we going to do that?" Rockman inquired. "We don't know anything about this world. It's completely alien to us. I mean . . . We're strangers in a strange land. Things are _way_ different here. We'll be watched."

That was when Gutsman and Iceman's holograms popped up to join the conversation, surprising the three Navis that were already awake. The large, bumbling NetNavi scratched the top of his head, yawning loudly. "Gutsman tired," the big NetNavi said slowly.

"Me too," Iceman said, stretching out his arms.

"How did you two sleep?" Rockman inquired softly.

"Fine, de gutsu," Gutsman responded.

"A little restless, but fine," Iceman stated, rubbing at his arm.

Rockman frowned, and turned to look at their still sleeping NetOps. His brows furrowed, and he looked away, staring at his NetNavi friends. They looked at each other, and all were silent. Blues placed one hand to his hip, and glanced up at the small blue NetNavi.

"I hate to admit it, but we're going to need a lot of help," Blues stated. "We can't do this by ourselves like we would normally do."

"And I don't think these people will object to helping us," Roll said.

"They really hate this government," Iceman responded with a scratch of his small hand on his cheek. "They would be more and happy to help."

"They want to take over the government, right, de gutsu?" Gutsman asked.

"Yes, that's what they want to do," Rockman answered his large and not so brilliant friend.

"Isn't that hard, de gutsu?"

"Yes, but it has been done before."

Blues rubbed his chin, and his eyes narrowed behind his visor. "And it probably has a lot of flaws in it," he noted.

Rockman turned up to the red-clad NetNavi, and blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, something this powerful can become too greedy," Blues stated. "The guards were asleep back at that building we entered, so they're probably used to having things their way. They have not been challenged; life for them has been too easy."

"Is that why they are incompetent?" Roll asked.

"Probably."

There was a beeping sound, and another hologram popped up. It was a female NetNavi with long hair that draped behind her back, and long bangs swept over right eye; her hair fell free and moved when she did. Her body glowed bright neon green, and the glowing was dulled, just like her face. Her face was stoic and completely dull; cleaned of all emotion, except her eyes: those were filled with anger and rage. Not so much at them, but just at the situation. Around her fingers, wrists, arms, ankles, legs, and neck were thick band-like rings that also glowed bright green. Her helmet was very round, coming to start at the middle of her foreheard, and circle around to stop short of "ear level." Her emblem was an upside down triangle that was cut in half, and the bottom of the triangle had another line that cut into it. She stared hard at the non-glowing NetNavis before her, and then spoke:

"Awake your NetOps; we wish to talk to you."

And she was gone.

The NetNavis were silent, and glanced at each other.

"Who was that?" Iceman asked.

"I think she's one of the rebels," Roll answered in speculation.

"If so, I think we should wake up our NetOps; let's just do what she says," Rockman said. His hologram flickered to Netto's sleeping form, and spoke: "Netto-_kun_. Netto-_kun_."

The brunette stirred in his sleep, his hands gripping the tattered sheets.

"Netto-_kun_, Netto-_kun_," Rockman called a little louder.

The brunette moved again, and his eyes slowly opened, and looked at his NetNavi with lazy eyes. "Rockman?" he called, rubbing at his eye before rubbing at his wet face with his arm.

The small blue Navi smiled. "It's morning," he said. "Time to get up."

That was when the door opened up with a loud _bang_. Meiru screamed from surprise, falling from her cot and onto the floor. Tohru and Dekao shot up from their sleeping positions, Enzan's heart skipped a beat, and Netto joined Meiru on the floor. At the doorframe stood a spindly man with a slender frame and poles for legs. His hair was long and wild as it draped down his back and across his shoulders. A thin beard traced his slender jaw-line as long bangs covered his face. He wore a tattered-looking hoodie jacket with the same emblem that the female Navi had, which was stitched on the jacket. His pants were torn, it had a patch on the right leg, and long boots covered his feet. He had a serial bar tattoo that glowed on his right wrist, and it had numbers beside it: 98ACZ7X11. He stood there at the door, beaming like the sun as his hands rested at his hips.

"Rise and shine, kiddos," he called. "So you're the ones that Addam found at night? Yes, yes."

Netto helped Meiru from the floor, and everyone looked to the man.

"Who are you?" Enzan grumbled out.

"I'm Jean Jacobs," he said with a laugh. "Sorry for startling you." He laughed a laugh that came from the centre of his chest and it came outward. "C'mon into the kitchen. We'll talk and eat some toast. C'mon." And with that, he left the room.

Everyone exchanged looks.

"Well," Enzan began, reaching across to grab his PET, a disgruntled look upon his face, "let's go talk to them.

"Yeah, totally," Netto said, reaching across to dust his shorts. "Let's go." He grabbed his PET, and Rockman appeared promptly on his shoulder. "Right, Rockman?"

"_Hai_, Netto-_kun_," Rockman responded.

The group exited the room, and they moved into the kitchen. Addam sat in an old, rickety chair as he buttered a piece of toast. He smiled at the group. "Here, all we have is toast," he said, a mumble in his voice.

"Hey, that's okay," Meiru said, taking a seat in a chair.

She looked at the cups on the table, noticing that each cup were either nicked, cracked, or not even the same cup. There were two PETs that sat on the table were scratched and the paint was chipping off of them. One PET had the emblem of the female Navi and Jean was green and white, and the other one was marked in different shades of blue, and the emblem had two green marks etched across it. Two holograms flickered from the PETs, and it took the form of two NetNavis. The first one was the female, and the other was an animalistic Navi—more like a gargoyle. He had a long tail, dark skin with a flat face, large wings, talons for feet, claws for hands, and his body was a shade of blue with a darker shade of blue that glowed elegantly. On his face was two glowing blue marks under his eyes, and a beard-like marking etched across his thick chin also glowed. The male Navi was tall; taller than Glyde and Gutsman so it seemed. He loomed over the other smaller Navis, causing them to rear their heads up just to meet his gentle gaze. He smiled at the new NetNavis broadly.

"Hello," he greeted. "I am Gargoyleman, and this is Byte." Gargoyleman turned to Byte, who had a frown upon her lips. Her eyes were hot and angry. "Oh, c'mon, sour-face, say hi."

"Shut up, Gargoyleman," she snapped, her splayed hair moving with her body. "They met me already."

Gargoyleman shook his head as Rockman and the others chuckled nervously. "Oh, forget her," the blue Navi said, looming over Rockman, Roll, Blues, and Iceman, and Gutsman (kind-of, sort-of). "She's a little rough around the edges. She'll warm up . . . a little. What's your names?"

"I'm Rockman," the small Navi said. "And this is Roll—" He pointed to the small pink Navi. "—Iceman—" He pointed to the mini-Eskimo NetNavi. "—Blues—" He gestured to the white-haired male. "—Gutsman—" He motioned to the burly Navi. "—and our NetOps are Netto, Meiru, Tohru, Enzan, and Dekao, and our friends—"

"Yes, they're captured," Gargoyleman said gravely. "So we were told."

Byte snorted. "Typical," she muttered.

Jean gestured to the bread and butter. "Would you all like some?" he asked. "And some tea? Do you all like tea?"

"Yes, please," Meiru said, her body completely tense. "So, can you help us get our friends out?"

Jean stood up from his chair and went to the stove, and put a hot kettle on. Addam looked to them, and sighed deeply. "We will try," he said. "How many have been captured?"

Netto exchanged looks with the others, and sighed. "Searchman is one, Glyde and Yaito make three," he whispered, his brows furrowed. "And Dad and the five scientists, which makes . . . six . . ." He then started to count on his fingers. "Nine in total."

Byte stood there, her mouth clamped shut as her slender arms crossed over her chest, Gargoyleman's jaw went slack, Jean stood at the stove with an awestruck look upon his features, and Addam just stared at them.

"Nine?" Gargoyleman asked. "Nine people?"

"Shit, what the hell did you people do to piss the Authorities off so much?" Byte asked with a sharp tone.

"Look, it's hard to explain," Tohru said hurriedly.

"There's no way in hell we can get them too," Byte stated. "Shit. We can barely get Rule and Cindy out! We have no idea how to." She swore under her breath, and stamped her foot into the ground. "Sorry, but we're not helping you."

"What?" Netto snapped back.

"Why?" Enzan growled.

"Byte, knock it off," Jean muttered to his NetNavi.

Byte turned to her Operator, frowning sternly. "Hey, we've got a couple of thousand people under our control to rebel, and Sherrice and Rideman haven't fucking returned from collecting more," she hissed like an enraged snake. "There is no way in hell that we can save them."

"Well, why not?" Jean retorted, placing a hand to his hip.

"Well, let's do some math," Byte answered with a thick, sarcastic tone in her voice. "Three or more thousand for the revolt and nine people captured by the Authority." She held out her hands like she were Libra's scales. "A couple thousand to nine." Her right hand dropped, and her face became deadpanned. "Oh, my," she said, her voice emotionless. "The thousands of people tip the scale. I guess that means that the nine aren't all that important."

"Byte," Gargoyleman chastised.

"Not important?" Roll snapped at the other female. "Those are our friends!"

"Yeah, de gutsu!" Gutsman countered. "They matter too, de gutsu."

"Yeah, they're not just items that we can just replace," Roll said in a loud tone, her hands gripped at her side.

"And you don't think we've lost friends along the way, sweetheart?" Byte said in a mocking tone.

Roll flinched as Byte took a step closer to the pink Navi. "You don't think that we haven't had to make tough choices about these things, darling?" she growled, her hot breath on Roll's face.

"Byte," Jean threatened lowly.

Byte turned up to her NetOp, who frowned disappointingly at his Navi. She shuttered under his stare, and walked away from Roll. Rockman approached the pink Navi's side, and gripped her shoulder in a comforting manner. "We will get them back," he said to his female friend. "We made it out of there once."

"You were lucky when you all made it out," Byte said. "Want my advice: forget them. They're as good as dead."

Netto pounded his hands onto the table. "Shut up!" he shouted to the Navi. "What do you know? They took our friends and my father! You're saying that we should forget them?"

Gargoyleman came across, gripping Byte tightly, and started to pull her away. "Byte is sorry," he said with a forced smile plastered to his face. "She can't help who she is. Making people mad is her superpower."

Byte's elbow smashed into Gargoyleman's gut, causing him to lose his breath. He stumbled back, sucking in breath through gritted teeth as his hands pressed against his stomach. Addam groaned, and rubbed at his temples.

"Knock it off you two," Addam muttered. "For God's sakes, we have company."

"Indeed," Jean said as he turned on the stove to boil the water in the kettle.

Enzan had his arms crossed tightly over his chest as he stared at the slender female Navi on the table. "So, you think we should just give up?" he asked icily.

"Yeah," Byte said. "The Navis are either fighting for their lives in the Coliseum or being torn apart to sell their parts. And the humans are probably being used as slaves until they die so the doctors can take their organs. It's hopeless for them."

"So, have you given up on your friends?"

Byte opened her mouth to speak, and then she shut her jaw, rendering her speechless.

"Have you? _Answer_."

"No," Byte snapped.

"So, what makes them different from our friends?"

Byte glared hard at Enzan, who was triumphantly smirking at the Navi. Netto and Dekao snickered, and both high-fived each other. Tohru couldn't help but to smile, and Meiru didn't hide hers at all. The Navis mimicked their NetOps actions.

"What's the matter," Blues stated. "Cat got your tongue?"

Byte flinched, and turned away from the others as her arms crossed over her chest. Gargoyleman shook his head, and rapped his knuckles against her forehead, and stepped closer to the others. "We will help, right? Addam?" he asked, turning to look at his NetOp and excused the glare that Byte gave him.

"Of course," he said. "But the Jail is more equipped than before. It'll be difficult to break."

"What do you mean?" Meiru asked. "Have you done this before?"

"Yep," Jean answered, pouring hot water into some cups, and placed tea bags into it. He turned to Addam. "How strong are the improvements now?"

"Well, with the recent escape that Sherrice and Rideman made—quite a bit," Addam answered.

"What are the improvements?" Tohru asked, smiling at Jean as he gave the hot cup to the boy.

"Well, over the years the Jail gained an electric fence, more guards, attack dogs, attack viruses, a trick-room like setting that has doors leading to nowhere or to anywhere," Addam listed, pressing a finger against his palm as he mentally counted off the items. "Anything else, Jean?"

Jean passed out the last cup before he paused and started to think. "I think that's it," he said.

"Alright."

"That much?" Roll asked. "Wow."

Gargoyleman laughed, and nodded his head. "You better believe it," he said, his thick tail swishing from side to side. "We can't seem to get in. We tried hacking in and using blueprints to get in, but nothing. I kept gettin' caught. Thank God I wasn't shot dead."

"And you kept mentioning a Sherrice and a Rideman," Blues called. "Who are they?"

"They're one of the leaders of The Children of Liberty," Jean answered. "They're one of us. They're collecting more people for our cause." He looked to Addam. "When do you think they will return?"

"Dunno," Addam answered, shrugging his shoulders. "When they do come back, they'll come back. They'll message if they're in danger."

"Of course," Gargoyleman responded. "They always message us."

Byte kept silent, but her only visible eye glared daggers at Enzan and Blues. Her foot tapped angrily on the floor as she turned up to look at her NetOp. "So, are we going to get Cindy and Rule back?" she asked.

"Of course, but we just need to think," Jean responded, pushing the bread over to the others. He looked to the group of children. "Well, let's start scheming up a plan, eh?"


End file.
